The Company of Trees
by theroadkillcafe
Summary: Sakura is bullied, a dead kekkei genkai is reborn, and things go a little bit...differently. Mokuton!Sakura
1. Chapter 1

Inoichi only had one child, and she wasn't often given to fits of misbehavior, or at least, not any that required his presence at the Academy. But despite his lack of experience in these matters, Inoichi was certain that a school yard spat did not require the presence of the Hokage. Or, curiously enough, the aging head of the Senju clan. Older than the Sandaime himself, Senju Tenjouma was not often seen by others in the village except during the meetings of the clan heads.

On the heels of Tenjouma's arrival were the Harunos, a civilian couple that Inoichi had met a few times after their respective daughters had become friends. They gave Tenjouma a curious look but dismissed him as just an old man, and instead bowed to the Sandaime in apprehension. Well, at least Inoichi wasn't the only one confused by his presence then.

Their company was rounded out by two other clearly civilian couples, who Inoichi took to be the parents of the other children involved in the fight. Inoichi fought the urge to fold his arms. While he would have words with Ino over involving the children of civilians in fights, scuffling wasn't uncommon in the Academy as the students found their own pecking order and formed and dissolved alliances. Now was the time children learned each other's strengths and weaknesses, hopefully in order to form well functioning teams in the future.

Presumably all the necessary parties were gathered, for the Hokage subtly flared his chakra, a thing that only the shinobi present could sense. Shortly afterward, the conference room door opened and the chuunin instructor ushered them inside. Waiting for them were four young girls, their faces all tear stained and still faintly pink from emotion. Inoichi frowned at the way Ino kept sneaking glances at Sakura, who appeared to want nothing more than to curl into a ball and hide her face completely from everyone in the room.

"Now that we're all gathered here, could you girls explain exactly what happened today," Suzume said, " _without_ talking over each other this time."

The three girls all looked at Sakura and one even scooted her chair away from her. The scraping noise grated on Inoichi's ears, but even more it angered him to see Sakura curl in on herself even more. This was a girl who was clearly low on confidence, self-esteem, and in the short time he had known her, she had been nothing but sweet and gentle. Despite her civilian background, she made for a good playmate for Ino, and was good practice for when Ino would someday work with civilians on missions.

Finally, it was Ino who plucked up the courage to speak. "Sakura and I were practicing with the koto together, in our kunoichi classes, when those two came over and started being mean to us. I started yelling at them back, but then Ami cut the strings to our koto. And then Sakura got really mad and then..." Ino fell silent.

"Perhaps it is better if I show you," the teacher said. She pulled her hands into the release seal and the genjutsu that had covered the corner of the conference room fell away. The girls startled; clearly they hadn't sensed it. But what was more interesting was the ruined koto. Indeed, the strings had been neatly cut, but much more striking was its body. Branches twisted out of the gleaming wood, all arched in one direction. Some were deadly sharp points. Most had been expertly sliced in half, likely by Suzume. It was obviously the work of a jutsu, one Sakura had no business being able to do. Beside the Hokage, Tenjouma shifted and narrowed his eyes with interest. Now it made sense why the clan head was present.

"You mean to tell me she tried to kill my daughter?! Over a school prank?" the woman who must have been Ami's mother stood up in outrage. She leveled a finger at Sakura. "I want her expelled immediately." Inoichi couldn't hold back his snort. If things played out the way he was now suspecting they would, Sakura could detonate the Academy building and as long as no one was killed, she wouldn't be expelled.

Unfortunately for the Harunos, they didn't quite know what was happening, only that their daughter had attempted to use a jutsu on another student. Mebuki's hands clenched into fists.

"Before any decisions are made, I would much rather have the teacher's opinion on what happened," she said. Her calm voice belied the tension in her body.

Suzume laced her fingers together. "Ino's story and the evidence on the koto all line up. It also fits with previous behavior exhibited by Ami. The response may appear to be rather extreme, but I am given to understand that it is common upon first awakening a kekkei genkai."

"A kekkei genkai? Sensei, we're civilians. Sakura doesn't have a kekkei genkai," Kizashi insisted.

"That is why myself and Tenjouma-dono are here, Haruno-san. We are here to verify that it Sakura-kun has indeed awakened a kekkei genkai, and if she has, to make the appropriate arrangements," the Sandaime said.

The other unknown civilian woman spoke up. "So this is all okay because she might have one of those hidden shinobi techniques?"

"We do not condone the usage of jutsu on other Academy students. However, a child cannot control when they awaken their kekkei genkai, nor the manner in which it awakens," explained Suzume. "In the future, we will expect Sakura to maintain control of this jutsu, whether it is a kekkei genkai or not. But, given her talent for ninjutsu that she displayed earlier, no, Sakura will not be expelled from the Academy. She is in fact highly encouraged to continue her studies so that she may aid Konoha in the future."

"Rest assured I will be speaking to Sakura-kun and Ino-kun regarding how to properly handle provocation in the school yard. But I must also remind you as well that bullying and discord among the children is not tolerated. That will be a talk for another day, however. I must conduct business with the Harunos," the Hokage said. The civilians understood the not so subtle implication and gathered their daughters and left. On their way out, one of the men made sure to slam the door in a childish show of anger. No doubt the teachers would be hearing their displeasure for the next few weeks to come.

Inoichi also stood in order to leave. Certainly Tenjouma wouldn't want another clan head around to witness whether or not there was a bastard child running around the village. As a member of the Intelligence Division, Inoichi knew exactly how valuable news, true or not, could be.

"Wait, could Yamanaka-san stay? Only, I'm afraid we don't understand these things very well," Mebuki said. He paused. It wasn't as if the Hokage wasn't going to explain everything to them anyway, he didn't see what use he could be. Still, he waited for the Hokage's word.

"If Tenjouma-dono does not object, Inoichi-dono may certainly stay."

The Senju man nodded once. Inoichi sat back down, undeniably curious as to the outcome. The Harunos turned their eyes to him and he found himself explaining.

"It appears to me that Sakura-chan has used an exceedingly rare kekkei genkai, known as the Mokuton. This is the bloodline ability of the Shodai Hokage, Senju Hashirama-sama. Tenjouma-dono is the head of the Senju clan. He will perform a few DNA tests, and possibly a bloodline limit test of some kind, in order to verify if Sakura-chan has really used the Mokuton. This will all be done under the supervision of those of us present."

"And if Sakura is somehow related to the Senju?" Kizashi asked.

"Then the appropriate arrangements will be made and your daughter will become the heir to the Senju clan, as is her right as the only known natural carrier of the Mokuton genes. If she is not, then no changes will occur," Tenjouma answered.

The Sandaime folded his hands on the table. "Please proceed, Tenjouma-dono."

The elderly man withdrew a few slips of paper from the inside of his yukata. All four had small smears of blood down the left side. He set them down in front of Sakura before taking out a single kunai.

"Only a few drops of blood is necessary."

Inoichi did fold his arms as he watched Sakura's face drain of color. Perhaps a six year old from a very traditional clan wouldn't have a problem slicing their hand, but even his own daughter would flinch at it, and Sakura, whether she was a Senju by blood or not, was very much a girl from a civilian family. She needed a softer touch than that.

Ino clasped a hand over one of Sakura's fists. "It's okay Sakura-chan, it'll just be a tiny cut. I'm right here with you, okay?" Ino also glanced at the kunai warily. It was definitely sharper than anything she had previously handled. Slowly, Sakura's fist uncurled until her hand turned upward so it could grip Ino's. Their hands held together, Sakura found the courage to reach out and grab the kunai.

Tenjouma continued to wait with the patience of only the most experienced shinobi as Sakura slowly found it within herself to let go of Ino and take the kunai to the tip of her thumb. The sharp edge split the skin easily, and the girl had probably cut herself deeper than intended. Still, blood welled to the surface of her skin readily, and with speed born of one who wanted something over as quickly as possible, Sakura wiped her thumb on all four sheets of paper.

The kunai dropped to the table with a clatter as Sakura hastily brought her hands back to herself. Ino resumed her grip on Sakura' s hand, heedless of the blood smearing across her palm. Inoichi smiled slightly. His daughter was a good girl.

"Now what?" Mebuki asked.

"We wait for the results," said Tenjouma. The room fell utterly silent as they watched the four slips of paper. For what felt like an eternity, there was nothing, and just when Inoichi was going to suggest that perhaps Suzume had been mistaken, the paper emitted a faint glow. All four of them.

"A positive match," Inoichi murmured.

"Out of curiosity, Tenjouma-dono, who did you compare Sakura-kun to?" the Hokage asked.

"Myself, my cousin Kikyou, and Hashirama-sama."

The Haruno couple leaned forward, as if the intensity of their stares might somehow change the results. "And the fourth sheet?" asked Mebuki.

"It is a test to see if she carries the genes specific to the Mokuton," Tenjouma paused, then added, "she does." Inoichi turned his gaze back to the two girls. They both had identical looks of shock, their jaws slack and eyes wide. Inoichi felt stunned himself. A true user of the Mokuton had been born again, and it apparently ran strong in Sakura. He peered at Tenjouma out of the corners of his eyes. His expression hadn't changed much but Inoichi could sense his excitement. And no wonder. The Senju were a dying clan of less than twenty members, having sacrificed the majority of its population in the previous wars or in the name of marriage in order to tie the clans of Konoha together. Bastard child or no, the coming of a young child who could use the Mokuton would be taken by the Senju almost as a gift from the gods.

Sure enough, Tenjouma spoke again, "I will have to check the records to ascertain how you may be a relation to our clan. But there is no doubt in my mind that you are my cousin, Haruno Sakura. Henceforth, you will be the heir to the Senju clan."

"Heir to the clan? That's a bit much, isn't it? Isn't there a process to all of this? She's a six year old girl, and more than that, she's my daughter!" Mebuki stood up and stared down the Senju clan head. Her jaw was clenched and she had instinctively rested her weight forward. Inoichi wouldn't have thought a civilian capable of such aggressive posturing towards a known shinobi. Or maybe she assumed that because Tenjouma was old, he was no longer physically fit and thus unable to harm her.

"I assure you, it is all perfectly in order. You have seen it for yourself, Haruno-san. It would be best if you did not make this difficult. Sakura will be better off living with the rest of the clan."

Inoichi didn't bother to suppress his wince. This was going to rapidly spiral out of control and he didn't need a doujutsu to see that. The Hokage recognized it as well and coughed.

"Let us not be so hasty. Tenjouma-dono, surely there is a way to compromise? I'm aware how much the reappearance of the Mokuton means to your clan, but Sakura-kun isn't just a Senju."

Inoichi wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Sakura murmur "I'm not one at all" under her breath. So there was a bit of steel underneath all her softness after all.

Tenjouma huffed. "Sandaime-sama, you know that it is well within my rights as the acting clan head to act as I see fit in the case of a reappearance of a kekkei genkai, and the child now falls under my purview."

"Rights? What about our rights as her parents? Yamanaka-san, is this true?" Kizashi looked to Inoichi for answers.

"Yes, it is quite legal. Early during the formation of the village, clans were encouraged to intermarry to forge new ties and prevent another civil war from breaking out. However, clans bearing a bloodline ability don't want that ability spreading to other clans, for several reasons." Inoichi paused, "Despite the Shodai-sama being the only known user of the Mokuton, it is still recognized as a kekkei genkai of the Senju. In cases where a person displays a kekkei genkai of a given clan, that person automatically becomes a member of that clan and is subject to the rules governing them, handed down by the clan head."

Kizashi rubbed a hand down his face, looking exhausted. "Isn't there anything you can do for us?"

Inoichi couldn't suppress a sigh. In the words of Shikaku, how troublesome. He met Tenjouma's gaze to measure the resolve there. There was no way Inoichi could pit the Yamanaka against the Senju, small as it was, especially not for the sake of a civilian couple. It would get ugly fast. The Akimichi, Nara, and Sarutobi would inevitably get dragged into it, and with the most recent marriage of Senju and Hyuuga, no doubt the Hyuuga would be quick to back up the Senju. Picking a fight here over kekkei genkai had the potential to split Konoha into a civil war. Many wars had been started over the claiming kekkei genkai, and this wouldn't be the first.

"I'm afraid not. As I said, it is law. I can only recommend to Tenjouma-dono that he reconsider his stance and find a way to compromise with you." Inoichi shifted to address Tenjouma, "If you do this, you're only going to foster resentment in the girl you want to make heir to the clan."

Tenjouma looked like he wanted to say something, but a small voice interrupted him.

"You want to take me away from my parents," Sakura's voice was so flat, he couldn't tell if what she said was a statement or a question. But her expression had a bland, empty quality that was alarming. Usually shinobi that looked like that were seconds away from snapping and going on a rampage. Inoichi was suddenly aware that there was quite a lot of wood in the room, from the table they were sitting at to the trim on the walls.

Suzume, whom Inoichi had nearly forgotten about, stood abruptly. "C'mon girls, how about we get a snack while they finish talking?" Ino acquiesced to her touch and stood, but Sakura remained sitting. One hand was held by Ino but the other gripped the table tightly.

"Sakura," Suzume's voice became firmer. But the girl ignored the teacher and fixed her teary green eyes on Tenjouma. Underneath her hand that still gripped the table, a sprout suddenly blossomed. That...wasn't good. A few more moments of high stress and the whole table would look like the koto in the corner. Though it was very interesting that Sakura didn't appear to require hand signs to use Mokuton. Very interesting and very dangerous.

Tenjouma leaned forward across the table. His attention was now fully focused on Sakura. "I had thought a clean break from your parents would be easiest in order to assimilate quicker to our shinobi clan lifestyle. I can see that this is not the case, and indeed, Inoichi-dono appears to be correct that you would only dislike me, and by extension, the clan, from separating you from your parents. "

"One of your parents must also be related to the Senju in order to pass along the Mokuton to you. Though neither of them claim the Senju name, it is possible for your parents to move with you to live with the clan."

"So we can stay together?"

Tenjouma nodded. "If that's what you would like." Beside Inoichi, the Harunos audibly breathed a sigh of relief. Well, that was one crisis averted.

"Excellent. I will begin processing the paperwork. Tenjouma-dono will handle things on his end and inform you on how things will proceed from here," the Sandaime also looked pleased that things had been resolved peacefully. "Suzume, I think we're done here. You can return to your other duties now."

The instructor bowed and left the room. As the adults got to their feet, Ino pulled Sakura around the side of the table until they both stood next to him. Ino's free hand came up to grip his pant leg. As he thought, she was nearly as upset as Sakura and was only putting on a brave face for her benefit. He reached down and patted her head.

Sakura wasn't long in reaching for her parents. Her mother clucked and fretted over the cut on her thumb while her father hovered over them. Ahead of them, Tenjouma and the Hokage left the conference room. Inoichi and Ino were beginning to walk past the Haruno family when Kizashi gestured for him to stop.

"Yamanaka-san, thank you for your help today. We know we must've put you in a difficult position," Kizashi's smile looked more like a grimace. He looked down at Ino. "And you, missy, thank you for being such a good friend to my daughter." Ino beamed at the praise.

Inoichi looked over the family again. They had no idea what they were in for. The Senju weren't usually a strict clan, but in the face of their extinction, a great deal of pressure would be put on Sakura. Hating himself a little bit for it, Inoichi spoke. "Of course, Haruno-san. Anytime you need my help, please let me know. I'll do what I can."


	2. Chapter 2

If Sakura thought that the koto incident would be forgotten, she was sorely mistaken. School at the Academy hadn't even started yet and Sakura's peers were already behaving differently. Whispers followed her as Sakura made her way through the Academy playground to find a suitable waiting for Ino spot. Her shoulders scrunched up high near her ears the more she became aware of the heavy stares of the other children. As she sat down underneath a tree, she wished that she had never gotten angry at Ami for bullying her, even if whatever she did yesterday was like the Shodai's special jutsu. It wasn't worth it for this kind of attention.

Thankfully, despite the extra attention Sakura was receiving from her peers, no one seemed interested in talking to her and she was able to wait for Ino in peace. Her anxiety slowly ebbed away the more she watched the other Academy children shriek and play. Someone had probably seen what had happened and gossiped, Sakura told herself, so that was why the other kids were looking at her funny. No one knew that the Hokage and that old man said she was related to the Shodai except for Ino and her dad. And Ino wouldn't tell anybody if Sakura asked her not to. Nothing was going to change. Everything was going to be fine.

Of course, Ami took this opportunity to come find Sakura and show her that not everything would be fine. As soon as Sakura saw her marching towards her with purpose, Sakura's stomach sank and the unease that had disappeared came roaring back. This time, however, Ami had brought not just her usual two friends but two others and all of them were sneering. Sakura wrapped her arms around her knees and hunched over. There was no way this was going to end well.

"I can't believe they let you back here, you freak!"

Sakura flinched away from Ami's words but it didn't make it hurt any less. Nearby, several children in their grade stopped their play to watch the argument unfold. Ami's bullying wasn't usually noteworthy, if only because everyone knew Haruno Sakura wouldn't fight back. But rumor had apparently spread that yesterday she did and now the others were waiting to see if a scuffle would break out. All shinobi, even shinobi children in training, loved a good fight.

But Sakura had no intention of fighting back, especially without the security of Ino at her side, so she said nothing in response to Ami, which only encouraged her.

"You must've gotten in big trouble, they had to call Hokage-sama himself down to deal with you. Everyone's going to know now that you tried to kill me!" Ami put her hands on her hips and leaned down over Sakura. "And who's going to want to team up with a killer person like you? Can't even work quietly with someone you don't get along with."

Sakura shrank down away from Ami. She didn't mean to try to kill Ami, she wanted to say. She only wanted Ami to stop bullying her. More than that, Sakura had been angry that Ami had dared to try to bully _Ino_. Sakura had never had a friend like Ino and as meager as her effort might be, Sakura would try to keep Ino from being hurt.

But without Ino there to bolster her confidence and give her a reason to defend against Ami, Sakura found herself unable to stand up to her bully. Instead she had returned to the same cringing mess she was whenever she found herself alone. Until someone unexpected spoke up.

"If Sakura has already tried to kill you before, why are you antagonizing her again?"

Both Ami and Sakura whipped their heads to the side to see Shikamaru lying not too far from them, his hands pillowing his head and his eyes shut. If he hadn't said anything, Sakura might've assumed he was asleep, as was his usual state.

Ami's attention momentarily diverted, she started in on Shikamaru. "What are you talking about? It's just forehead girl!"

Sakura felt hope flutter in her chest despite Ami's words. She knew that Ino and Shikamaru were friends, no matter how much she might pester him all the time. If he was there, he probably wouldn't let them bully her.

One of Ami's friends, bolstered by Shikamaru's prone position, stepped forward. "And what are you going to do about it if we annagize her anyway?" her mouth fumbled at the new word but her tone made her attitude clear enough.

"Nothing."

The hope that Sakura had had died abruptly. She should've known better. Even if Shikamaru felt compelled to help her by association, he was just too lazy to do nearly anything. Even civilian kids like her knew how lazy he and the rest of his clan were.

Ami sneered as Shikamaru's response registered.

"You hear that, Forehead? He's not going to help you. Smart as he is, he probably knows how useless you are already," her hand reached out towards Sakura to jab two of her fingers into her forehead. "Too bad you haven't figured that out already. That big forehead of yours must be for all the air in there, not a bigger brain." Tears pricked at Sakura's eyes. A part of her desperately hoped she wouldn't start crying right here in front of everyone and the Academy. Another part couldn't believe that everyone was just watching and letting Ami bully her.

"But," Shikamaru suddenly said, sounding as if Ami had never spoken. One of his eyes was now open and looking directly Ami. "If you make Sakura upset, Ino will find out and be mad. And if she's mad, she'll do something about it, and she'll probably make _me_ do something about it too, and that will be troublesome," he paused, and then added, "for you and me."

Ami suddenly looked uncertain. She had only tried to bully Shikamaru once, who was simply too lazy to respond. But she knew Ino had no compunctions about bringing down her wrath on Ami, and if she prodded Shikamaru to finally fight back against her, Ami would be dealing with two clan heirs, not just one, and that had the potential to make everyone in the class turn against her. Her face scrunched as she considered whether or not it was worth it to continue to pick on Sakura.

At that moment, the bell rang for classes to begin, and Ami's decision was made for her. With one last mean look at Sakura, her and her posse flounced off towards the Academy building. Sakura waited a few moments, and then, scrubbing at her face to hopefully rid herself of any trace of her upset, stood up. She looked about the school yard, trying to ascertain where Ino was.

Since they became friends, Ino always came to school early to talk with Sakura and ward off her bullies, and they always sat together in class. Maybe she was just sick, Sakura told herself uncertainly. Something like being a clan heir, supposedly, or having a fancy kekkei genkai wouldn't make Ino want to quit being friends with her, would it? Sakura recalled the way Ino had once complained about how clans with kekkei genkai looked down on clans like her own, who didn't have bloodline abilities. Sakura frowned. Ino wasn't so shallow as to stop being friends with her over that. If Ino could look past her large forehead, then a jutsu she didn't even know she could do wouldn't end their friendship.

Sakura nodded to herself, newly filled with determination. Ino was just sick and Sakura would have to suck it up and sit by herself today. But first, she should probably thank Shikamaru for helping her, even if he didn't do much, or, indeed, was going to do much at all. One never knew what the lazy genius might decide to do.

"Thanks for sticking up for me, Shikamaru," Sakura said politely. Shikamaru clambered to his feet with apparent effort and heaved a great sigh. He shoved his hands into his pockets and turned towards her in his familiar slouch and with half lidded eyes.

"It seems troublesome to get bullied on the time. You should do something about it or she'll keep doing it. Maybe use that jutsu all the girls are saying you used on her yesterday. It doesn't matter if you hurt her or not, as long as it's impressive enough."

With that said, Shikamaru slowly began to make his way to class, leaving Sakura behind in shock. So everyone really did know that she used a strange jutsu yesterday in kunoichi class. But did they know which jutsu it was? Did they know there was someone claiming she was Shodai-sama's descendant and had his special wood jutsu? That she was going to be the heir of a clan, supposedly? Sakura hugged herself and thought once more that she wished she had never felt the rush of what must have been chakra, that she had never gotten angry enough to tap into that well deep inside her. But maybe if she tried hard enough, things would go back to normal. Soon enough, Kiba or Naruto would do something ridiculous and everyone would focus on them, not on her.

A few minutes later, Sakura's worries were abating as her classmates chatter filled the air. Well, no matter what they were all gossiping about, at least no one was ready to directly ask her about it. And to make things even better, mere seconds before the tardy bell rang, Ino dashed into the classroom, looking slightly disheveled but perfectly healthy. It took just moments for Ino's sharp eyes to find Sakura and then dart to her side to slide into the seat next to her.

"Cutting it a bit close there, Ino-kun," Iruka-sensei chided gently from the front of the room. Ino gave him an embarrassed smile that seemed to charm Iruka-sensei into not pushing the matter further. It wasn't like Ino was actually late, after all.

With that matter settled, class began in short order. The class became quiet, though whether or not the students were actually paying attention to the lecture or were just silent to avoid getting scolded depended on the student. For Sakura, it gave her hope that with more time everyone would forget about her jutsu and also let her shine in the area she did her best – academics. She didn't get the extra training and advice that many of her peers did but Sakura was sharp and observant and detailed. And according to Iruka-sensei, it didn't always matter what jutsu a shinobi knew if they were outsmarted by a cleverer opponent.

As the day passed Sakura began raising her hand more often instead of waiting to get called on. Her spirits lifted each time she answered correctly. Soon she was giggling behind her hand at some of Ino's less than kind comments about their classmates.

Sakura's newfound good mood lasted through the morning and most of lunch. It seemed she had guessed correctly that whatever rumors were going around about her wouldn't hold everyone's attention long enough to bother her during lunch. She was just Sakura after all. What she had failed to account for was Naruto, the most unpredictable student in their class.

Ino and Sakura were enjoying their lunch at their shared desk when all of sudden Naruto's voice cut through the air. "Hey Sakura-chan! Kiba says you learned an awesome jutsu and used it on Ami yesterday!" And in two sentences, Naruto had effectively silenced the entire class. And then, as one, thirty pairs of eyes turned to Sakura. Naruto pushed his way past everyone's chairs and desks until he was standing above Sakura.

"Can you show me your jutsu, Sakura-chan? I wanna see a real ninja technique, not the kid's stuff Iruka-sensei talks about all the time."

Ino scowled at Naruto from her spot next to Sakura. "Stupid Naruto! We have to learn this stuff first to even do jutsu right in the first place. And quit bothering Sakura-chan!"

"I too have heard the gossip that Sakura-san has a new jutsu," Shino said as he adjusted his sunglasses, "but I doubt this rumor. Why? Because Sakura-san's parents are civilians and it is rare for a civilian to get private tutoring outside of the Academy." Noise erupted at Shino's statement as everyone began to hotly debate whether or not Sakura had really used a jutsu. Everyone seemed in agreement something had been done to startle Ami yesterday, badly enough that Sakura and Ino were both held after class, but the disagreement centered on if it were a jutsu that had scared Ami and not some other shinobi trick.

Then Hinata's small voice could be heard through the din Shino's response had caused. "That's usually r-right, Shino-kun, but it's t-true, I saw Sakura-chan use a j-jutsu yesterday in kunoichi class." Hinata pushed her index fingers together and her face blushed red as everyone soaked in her words. No one was going to call her statement into question, both because she was the heiress to the Hyuuga clan and because she did a have a doujutsu that would've let her see the entire incident, which apparently she did.

"I knew it!" crowed Kiba. "Sakura, what kind of jutsu was it? A katon jutsu?" Sakura shrank down next to Ino as the excited chatter resumed in full force. Thankfully, Naruto prevented her from answering by starting a scuffle with Kiba.

"No fair! I asked Sakura-chan about her jutsu first. If she's going to show anyone her cool technique, it's gonna be me!" In a single bound Naruto cleared the desk that separated him and Kiba and knocked the other boy out of sight. Sakura looked around helplessly as things seemed to spiral further out of control. Her hope that no one would care about her jutsu was completely unfounded, and in fact, despite previous appearances to the contrary, her jutsu seemed to be the only thing people wanted to talk about.

The door suddenly slammed open.

"What on earth is going on in here? I can hear you lot all the way down the hall!" Mizuki-sensei glared into the classroom. Half of the class became quiet again with the appearance of a teacher. The other, more rambunctious half, kept talking. Mizuki-sensei scowled at them.

"That is enough! If you don't all eat your lunches quietly, I'll have you running extra laps this afternoon during taijutsu practice."

His final threat worked like a charm. The last of the talking died away and Naruto and Kiba separated from where they had been rolling around on the floor wrestling. Under Mizuki-sensei's narrow eyed gaze everyone went back to their seats and mutely began eating lunch again. Seemingly pleased with his results, the teacher left the room. And barely ten seconds later Naruto piped up again.

"But I still wanna see Sakura-chan's jutsu!"

"Naruto," Ino began sweetly, "if you don't leave Sakura-chan alone, I will use a jutsu on your face. " Naruto gulped at Ino's threat and settled back down. "And that goes for everyone else too," added Ino. She leveled a hard stare at everyone until they looked away. Underneath their table, Sakura reached out and grabbed Ino's hand. Ino was the best friend anyone could ask for, Sakura decided.

The rest of the school day passed without incident. When lunch ended and Iruka-sensei returned, there were no more opportunities for the other students to pester Sakura about the jutsu she used yesterday or to ask for a demonstration. But Sakura's confidence and brief good cheer had disappeared. She spent the rest of the afternoon slumped in her chair and disinterested in what before had been a fascinating lecture on chakra systems in the body.

Sakura was relieved when school ended and she could rush home. She wanted nothing more to hug her parents and pretend today and yesterday were nothing more than a bad dream. She was just outside the Academy gates and on her way home when a man's voice called out to her.

"You must be Sakura-chan. I'm here to take you home today." The man looked like he was around Iruka-sensei's age to Sakura's untrained eyes. He was dressed in the dark blue fatigues and green vest that characterized most shinobi of Konoha, and he hadn't personalized it the way many jounin sometimes did. He was also someone Sakura was sure she had never seen before. She shuffled backward with uncertainty.

"But I don't know you." Sakura had never worried about being kidnapped before. She was the daughter of a civilian couple, hardly interesting at all compared to some of the clan kids in her class. Still, Sakura had taken to heart the many warnings that teachers at the Academy gave to students, and they had all been quite clear: Never go off with someone you didn't know. It was usually too much trouble for a village to infiltrate another one for the express purpose of stealing bloodlines, what with the risk of sparking a war, but attempts were occasionally made and no one wanted to tempt fate.

The man seemed to suddenly understand Sakura's hesitation, because he looked sheepish. "Ah, no one told you then? My name is Senju Tatema. The clan decided it was best for now that someone walk with you to and from the Academy until we knew you could take care of yourself."

There were people listening in, students and adults alike. Sakura hunched over slightly to block out their stares. The attention from the adults was nearly the same as from the children, except so much more focused and heavy, as if they could look into her and see the truth, that she was like the Shodai and had the power to grow trees with hardly a thought. Tatema didn't seem to mind the attention, his gaze still steady on Sakura and his face relaxed and pleasant. Sakura swallowed. When she felt like this there were only three people she wanted and the closest was -

"Sakura-chan! You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?" Ino dashed over from where she had met her father outside the school gates. Behind her Inoichi Yamanaka followed at a much more sedate pace. He was much less serious looking than he had been yesterday and was back to his jovial self that Sakura preferred.

When Ino came to a stop at Sakura's side she first hugged Sakura tightly before turning a critical eye to Tatema, as if just noticing he was there. "Who are you?" She asked rudely. Tatema was unperturbed.

"I'm Senju Tatema. I'm here to make sure Sakura gets home to her parents safely," he repeated. Sakura bit her lip. But what if he wasn't? What if he wanted to sweep her away off to that old man from last night, and take her away from her parents? Sakura edged behind Ino.

Just as Inoichi reached them an idea occurred to Sakura. "I want Yamanaka-san to take me home." To not seem rude, she added, "Maybe if I had met you before..." Sakura ducked her head.

Before Tatema could respond, a new person interjected.

"She is exceptionally bright, to know to avoid wandering off with you, Senju. Did your clan find another child to spirit away?"

The little group turned to acknowledge the newcomer. Aburame Shibi stood tall, his face almost entirely obscured by both his sunglasses and the collar of his overcoat. To the side and partially hidden behind him was his miniature, Shino.

"I had heard from Uchiha-san that the venerable Senju Tenjouma had filed paperwork to adopt a child into the clan and a change of heir status. So which clan are you stealing this poor child from? The Sarutobi?" Shibi's voice was neutral but his words made Sakura's hair stand up on end. Nearby the other adults were nearly vibrating with excitement. It was much more news than they had been hoping to get.

Tatema still didn't seem to be rattled. If anything, despite his continuing pleasant smile, he suddenly felt a little dangerous. "I'm glad that Aburame-san is taking an active interest in the safety of the children of Konoha. But Sakura-sama here is a child of the Senju. Hokage-sama was present yesterday when Tenjouma-sama confirmed her identity through blood tests." Tatema paused and his smile became a little mean. "You should be more respectful, Aburame-sama. She is, after all, the great-granddaughter of Hashirama-sama." Eyes went wide at Tatema's statement, and chakra even flared in surprise, the equivalent of a jaw drop amongst adult shinobi. Still, Sakura didn't miss the sudden suffix change on her name from "-chan" to "-sama". Tatema was trying to play her status up, though Sakura didn't know what for.

Inoichi coughed. "Well, let's get you home to your parents, Sakura-chan. I'm sure you probably have studying to do." Ino clasped hands with Sakura at her father's words and began to tug her down the road away from the Academy. Sakura went quite willingly and as they separated from the adults, Inoichi moved to follow them.

"Have an excellent day, Aburame-san," Tatema said. He executed a perfect bow before spinning on his heel to catch up with Sakura and Ino. Despite Tatema and Inoichi at their backs, Sakura swore she could still feel the stares of their audience boring holes into her back.

"I would've thought that would be one wasp's nest you wouldn't want to kick, Tatema-san," Inoichi said wryly.

Tatema rubbed at his neck. "Well, I admit I didn't have intentions of doing so when I came to take Sakura-chan home, but the Senju can survive getting stung a few times." They then proceeded to walk in silence for the majority of the way home. Tatema, it seemed, was nice to talk to, but chose not to speak unless he had something to say.

In the spirit of Sakura's request, or maybe he could sense how nervous Tatema made her, Inoichi continued to walk with Sakura even after they walked past the turn to go to Ino's neighborhood. In fact, he stayed with Sakura until they made it right to her house, and even then he waited until Sakura opened her front door and her mother called out a greeting.

Before she went inside, Sakura remembered her manners. "Bye Yamanaka-san! Thank you for walking me home. And um, thank you too, Senju-san, for walking with me."

"I'll see you tomorrow at the Academy, Sakura-chan!" Ino waved at Sakura as she and her father began to walk away.

"I'll make sure to be here earlier to walk with you to school, Sakura-chan," Tatema told her. Sakura bowed to him uncertainly. What could she say in response? _No, I don't want you to walk me anywhere because I think Shino's dad is right and you might kidnap me_ seemed a bit rude.

But when she wandered into her family's sitting room to greet her parents, she found it had already been invaded. The old man from yesterday was there, this time with an equally old looking woman. Her parents were having tea with them but it didn't look as if things were going well. Her parents actually looked quite frustrated. Her mom's smile was strained as she waved Sakura in.

"I hope you had a good day at the Academy, sweetheart." She kissed Sakura's head in greeting. Sakura nodded mutely, unsure of what to make of the presence of Tenjouma and the old woman.

"Tatema-kun was supposed to walk with you to school this morning, but he didn't find out until it was too late and you had already left. We thought it best to familiarize you with some of the clan members, and Tatema-kun is on medical leave for a few weeks while he recovers from an injury," the old woman said. "Of course, our clan being as small as it is, we won't be able to have someone escort you all the time, but while you're still so young, it seems prudent."

"Who are you though?" Sakura asked. She felt it safe to be rude when her mother and father were there. The woman didn't seem to take offense.

"I'm Senju Kawaki, Tenjouma's wife. We, along with two others, are responsible for looking after the affairs of the Senju clan," she replied.

Tenjouma spoke, "We're here to begin making arrangements for your family to move into the same neighborhood as the rest of the clan."

At first his words didn't register, and when they did, Sakura could only blink in shock. And then she whirled on her parents. "We're moving? But I like it here! And, and this is the house you bought together!" Now Sakura understood why her parents looked so upset when she came in.

"Sakura-chan, it's not so bad. We'll be closer to the Academy, so it won't be such a long walk for you. And you'll be with the rest of the Senju, who can teach you much more about being a shinobi than we certainly can. Tenjouma-san tells us that the house they have for us is much bigger, so you'll have more space, for your room and for training. It's good, right?" Her dad did a much better job of concealing his emotions than her mother as he reached out to ruffle her hair.

"But what about mom's flower garden?" Sakura said plaintively, searching for any reason to put a stop to the move.

"We understand this is a big change for you, Sakura-chan. But I think you'll come to like it with the Senju. And with your jutsu, with a little training you'll be able to grow your mother all the flowers she could want. Her gardens would be the envy of even the Yamanaka," Kawaki said.

Sakura's mom smiled. "Hear that Sakura? Everything's going to be fine, you'll see." But despite her mom's words, Sakura knew everything wasn't going to be fine. She was certain that things wouldn't be fine again until the Senju disappeared out of her life.


	3. Chapter 3

The neighborhood the Senju clan lived in was almost like a park, with picturesque twisting trees lush with growth, winding paths, and sprawling training fields nearby. It was located near the heart of the village but had little of the dense population that characterized the center of Konoha. Yet the idyllic appearance of the so called Hanarakuen district hid the truth of its nature well; only shinobi lived in this district, and it showed in the subtle traps concealed all over the area. Genjutsu were carefully woven between the branches of trees and seals were hidden in the streets. The long curving paths of the district easily turned it into a maze for intruding shinobi and with all the hidden hideaways under exposed tree roots and other bolt holes, one never knew when a ninja could emerge to strike. In short, Hanarakuen was a beautiful place meant to turn deadly at any notice.

Unfortunately, Sakura's parents were civilian, and thus were easily lost in Hanarakuen, even after having lived there for a few weeks. They knew the main road, which in one direction would take them to the market and in the other would lead them out of the neighborhood. But the one and only time they had attempted to take a side road had ended in an unmitigated disaster where the family remained lost for several hours until finally making it home in the late hours of the night, and that was after a helpful shinobi had given them directions.

The house the Haruno family moved into was in the heart of the Hanarakuen district and was everything that Kawaki had promised. It was big and spacious, both in sheer size and in design. It was one of the original homes made by the Shodai and thus had the appearance of a house built into a tree. Part of the back of the house was a tree trunk, and Sakura found it very telling of the times it was built that there were small tunnels that wound through the tree and to the outside, each leading in different directions. There was a large backyard and thick branches hung over the empty space and the house itself, partially shielding it from the sun. Vines crawled everywhere over the outside of the structure, covering it in lush greenery. It was beautiful and organic looking and according to Tenjouma, Hashirama and his wife and daughter had occupied the home once upon a time. After Mito's death, the home had stood empty with no one to occupy it until now. Sakura hated it.

The new house, for all its beauty, didn't resemble at all the home her parents had worked so hard for. Her home was small and cozy, just big enough for the three of them. It was an artificial design, with two floors and no curving edge of a tree trunk inside. There had been no backyard for Sakura to play in, only a small strip of land just big enough for her mom to plant little flowering plants. And this house, having been grown by the Shodai, was made out of the blood gingko tree that wouldn't even flower in the spring and summer time, instead the leaves just remaining a permanent, boring,- though pretty- green.

The move to Hanarakuen was only the first of many changes. As promised, Tatema began walking her to and from the Academy, always patiently waiting at the front edge of her parents' new property. It didn't matter how early Sakura woke up and was out the door; there Tatema would be, the same pleasant smile always on his face. Sakura almost wondered if he had any other expressions, though Sakura supposed that didn't matter if he could still feel dangerous even while smiling, like when he had talked to Shino's dad. Still, Sakura didn't much like her new shadow on principle. She was old enough to walk home by herself, and the Senju had already made her family move in order for them to be drawn into the clan. Sakura tried to shake Tatema off her trail as much as possible, but even when she snuck out through the backyard he still found her, joining her at her side a mere block away from her home. He was probably a sensor ninja of some kind, or maybe he was really just that good of a shinobi.

Tatema's presence only served to stir things up at the Academy. Every day, parents and older siblings and cousins of Academy students saw Tatema walk her to the gates and were reminded that Sakura was the illegitimate great-granddaughter of the Shodai. The adults never spoke to her or Tatema but she felt the weight of their stares all the same. Unfortunately for Sakura, their children didn't have the same control.

The first day after the revelation of her ancestry, the only one who seemed to act normal was Ino. Even Iruka-sensei snuck careful glances at her throughout the day, though thankfully he didn't treat her any differently. But Ino still chattered to her brightly every day, and sat beside her at lunch, and partnered with her during class activities. After that first day, the already fragile status quo was broken, but not by the more insensitive students in the class, like Naruto or Kiba. No, it was Uchiha Sasuke who acknowledged her new clan first.

"So does this mean we should call you Senju Sakura now?" he asked during lunch, his dark eyes wide. Sakura flushed, though as the class waited with bated breath for her answer, she couldn't decide if it was from embarrassment or the implication that Sakura would so easily forget her parents.

She lowered her eyes as she mumbled, "I like Haruno better." Ino was already beginning to bristle with tension and irritation next to her, sensing Sakura's darkening mood.

"I am surprised the Senju clan has continued to allow you to use your name," Shino said. "Why? Because my father told me that when they have taken children before, their names are changed." His tone was noticeably cooler towards Sakura than it had ever been before. She frowned and nibbled on her lip. Sakura would never have called Shino her friend, but he had always been polite at least. Was joining the Senju clan really that bad a thing to Shino? Sakura wrinkled her nose. It wasn't like she had wanted to anyway.

At Shino's words, there was a wave of shock that spread throughout the classroom. Phrases like "taken children" and all that it meant weren't said lightly amongst the shinobi population. For a moment the only sound that could be heard was Chouji crunching anxiously on his potato chips.

Then Kiba said, "Woah, Sakura, they kidnapped you?"

"It wasn't like that at all. Hokage-sama was there, even," Ino scoffed.

"What's so important about this Senju clan anyway?" Naruto scratched his head in confusion. His question broke the rising tension abruptly as everyone took a moment to take in his ignorance. Shikamaru's head thunked on the desk, though Sakura couldn't tell if that was because he had decided to go to sleep or if he thought it was too troublesome to answer Naruto.

"Moron, how can you not know who the Senju clan is? The first two Hokage was one of the heads of the Senju clan and his brother," Kiba replied.

Naruto seemed unfazed by the rude tone in Kiba's voice. He blinked for a few moments, looking Sakura up and down rudely.

"But Sakura-chan doesn't look like either of them at all."

Around a mouthful of chips, Chouji said, "I don't think it works that way, Naruto."

"B-but that means that the other day, you u-used the Mokuton, right, Sakura-chan?" Hinata pushed her fingers together but was able to meet Sakura's eyes. Hesitantly, Sakura nodded.

"Can we see it?" Sasuke leaned forward eagerly.

"No," Sakura squeaked, nerves tightening her throat. Her refusal was less because she was embarrassed and more because Sakura wasn't sure if she could do it again, least of all without ruining one of the desks in the classroom. And what if she couldn't control it and hurt someone? If Suzume-sensei hadn't been there, Sakura could've really hurt Ami. Sakura didn't like Ami at all, but she didn't think she wanted the other girl dead. Sakura also thought that after she had been warned once about using jutsu, that the Hokage might come again and Sakura didn't want to get in trouble with anyone, but especially not with the Hokage.

"C'mon Sakura-chan, just a little stick or something," Kiba egged on.

Shino adjusted his glasses and coughed to get attention. "Maybe Sakura cannot really use the Mokuton and the Senju only claimed she could. Why? The Senju have very few members left and no children. They need to get more shinobi from somewhere."

Sakura slumped in her seat. She wasn't happy about moving or being a part of the Senju clan, but she wasn't a liar. The old man Tenjouma and Ino's dad both had said Sakura had the Mokuton, and Tenjouma used his fancy paper to prove that Sakura was related to the Shodai. Sakura didn't think she had been stolen from anywhere, at least. She did still live with her parents. It was just somewhere else.

On seeing Sakura's depressed expression, Ino slapped her hand on the desk she shared with Sakura. "Shut up Shino! You're saying a bunch of stupid stuff that isn't true. I know because I was _there!_ Sakura does have the Mokuton and she is related to the Shodai!"

But Shino didn't return to his customary silence. He seemed ready for a long argument. "It could have been-"

Shikamaru cut him off. "Man, what a drag," he said, his voice muffled by his arms and the desk. "You guys are so loud, I can't sleep. Lunch time is almost over too. Troublesome." His words suddenly reminded everyone that none of them were nearly finished with their food. If they didn't want to go hungry in the afternoon, they were better off eating and leaving aside the brewing argument.

Luckily, the argument didn't come up again, or at least, not within Sakura's hearing. She wondered about Shino's surprising fierceness about whether or not she was a Senju. It was likely it was related to his father's own attitude towards Tatema that first day, but Sakura couldn't guess the reason for it. Why would the Aburame care about her or the Senju? Kidnapping children was a serious allegation to make, so to hear it thrown around so lightly was shocking.

It stewed in her mind for awhile before she decided to ask someone about it. Sakura hadn't seen Tenjouma since her parents moved into Hanarakuen district. Which meant the only Senju she saw on a regular basis was Tatema. Nearly three weeks after he first began to walk her to and from school, she decided to ask him.

"How many members are there in the Senju clan?"

Tatema glanced down at her with surprise visible on his face. He clearly thought Sakura planned on never speaking to him for as long as possible. That had been her idea, but Sakura also knew she was supposed to be a part of the Senju clan, whatever that meant, and that she couldn't escape it for right now. And like any good shinobi, Sakura knew that if she couldn't get out of a bad situation, then she had to adapt to it.

"Well," Tatema started, "there's the elders, Tenjouma-ojiisama and his wife Kawaki-obaasama, and then Kabema-sama, and Enchuuma-sama, who is Kawaki-sama's brother. Kabema-sama has a wife, but she's a civilian, so she's not really an elder. Then there's Chikama and Yukama, my parents, and Tanama and his wife Kikyou. I have an older brother named Retsuma, who's married to Sakumi, and then Yanema. And you too, now. So that means there's fourteen of us."

"Sixteen," Sakura said waspishly. Tatema's brow furrowed.

"No," he said slowly, "I'm quite sure I know how to count to fourteen."

Sakura scowled at him. "If I'm a Senju, then so are my parents. That makes sixteen."

"Ah. Yes, I suppose so. Sixteen, then."

Sakura nodded at Tatema's agreement. With that settled, she moved on to the next part of her questioning.

"Is that small, for a clan?" she asked. Tatema hummed as he thought over his answer.

"It depends on which clan you're comparing us to, I suppose. Some clans, usually those without kekkei genkai or hiden jutsu, didn't do so well after the founding of the village, like the Hatake clan. The formation of the village meant the end of constant war, and these clans felt safe to intermarry between others, and their numbers dwindled as a result. But the Great Shinobi Wars also contributed to their decline. They were wars on a massive, never before seen scale, because now it was villages fighting villages, not just individual clans. Both of these reasons are why the Senju clan has shrank since the beginning of Konoha. For being a founding clan, the Senju is very small, but we still have quite a bit of political power, because the first two Hokage were from the Senju clan, and Sandaime-sama trained under Nidaime-sama," he answered.

She followed along his explanation with interest. She would never have guessed that the creation of Konoha would have actually led to the end of some clans. But Sakura couldn't forget her original purpose in engaging Tatema.

"So the Senju clan probably want to get more people, right?" She watched his face to see if she could spot any hint of changing emotions, but his face had returned to its perpetually pleasant and unreadable mask.

Tatema nodded. "It would certainly be better if we did. It's important for the continuation of our name and Shodai-sama's legacy. Things could be worse for us. My brother and his wife are trying for a child, as well as Tanama and Kikyou, though because they're older, it might be more difficult. The elders have been pushing for Yanema and I to marry someone and start our own families for awhile now."

Sakura filed away that personal bit of information for later. She hadn't thought it would be so easy to get information from Tatema. There was no way she was cunning enough to trick him into saying all this, which meant he was just giving it to her. But how would it benefit Tatema to tell her about the Senju clan?

"Is that why Shino thinks the Senju clan kidnaps children?" Based on the sudden choking and coughing from Tatema, Sakura didn't think that was the question he expected her to ask next. Still, Sakura thought that reaction was a bit dramatic.

Tatema turned his dark eyes down at her. Suddenly he didn't look so pleasant anymore. "Who the hell is Shino? Where did you even hear that?" Sakura shrank down from the sudden shift in Tatema's demeanor. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bring that up. She wondered what kind of trouble she could get into with her clan members just for asking questions. Was it that much different from living with just two parents?

"Aburame Shino is a classmate at the Academy. He said it three weeks ago, after you told his dad about me," Sakura said, subdued. She realized they had stopped walking when she turned her eyes away from Tatema's face nervously.

Tatema sighed above her head. "Aburame…I should've known." A large, warm palm suddenly dropped on the top of her head. Shocked, Sakura looked back up at Tatema.

"I didn't mean to scare you," Tatema smiled wryly. "It's not your fault people say stupid things. I'm not upset with you."

Sakura blinked mutely at Tatema. She had the feeling that she had stepped into an issue much bigger than she had ever guessed at, if it inspired that kind of reaction from Tatema.

"There are some old, unresolved affairs between the Senju and the Aburame, and they haven't really forgiven us for it. But that's no reason to drag you into it," Tatema crouched down so he was nearly eye level with Sakura. "I have no idea what you really think about joining the Senju clan, besides that you hate it. But the Senju, we don't just go around the village stealing children. Tenjouma-ojiisama can be a little insensitive, but he means well. He'll look after you. We all will. That's what it means to be a part of a clan, and you have just as much a right to call yourself Senju as the rest of us."

"But what if I don't want to call myself Senju?" muttered Sakura.

Tatema smiled. "Then you can just be Haruno Sakura of the Senju clan." He stood back up and brushed his open hand along the back of her head again. "C'mon, let's get you home."

Sakura shuffled along behind Tatema, who shortened his stride appropriately. She wondered if it would really be so terrible to be a Senju if they were like Tatema. He was annoying, always walking her to and from the Academy as if she were four years old and she couldn't outwit him, no matter what she tried, so she could prove her own independence. But Sakura thought he might also be kind. She wondered if being in a clan was like having many friends, like Ino. Friends who would always stick up for each other no matter what and make a space for her to belong.

She chewed on her lip. But Tatema had never told her what those old affairs with the Aburame were, and Shino had seemed so certain when talking about the stolen children. What if the belonging with the Senju that Tatema spoke of was only a need to grab hold of shinobi so they could survive? Sakura didn't think she wanted to belong to a clan that kidnapped children for its own gain. She resolved to think on it later, when she had time to herself.

But that time for Sakura never came. That weekend, Tenjouma showed up at the door of the new, pretty home that Sakura hated, his old, grizzled face solemn.

"It's time to start training you properly."


	4. Chapter 4

At Tenjouma's request, it only took Sakura a few minute to change into training appropriate clothes, instead of the frothy knee length skirt and camisole she had been wearing earlier. She took an agonizingly long time with the faint hope that maybe he would get tired of waiting for her and go away. She would rather Tatema walk her to school every day for the rest of her time at the Academy than spend any time with the man who had thought it was okay to try and take her away from her parents, and then make her family move into the stupid tree house.

Disappointingly, when Sakura finally appeared back in the main room of the house in soft, teal colored clothing, Tenjouma was still there, talking quietly with her mother. Sakura hoped to hear what they were talking about, but Tenjouma seemed to know the moment Sakura had returned, looking up to glance at her.

"There you are," he said. He gestured for her to come closer so Sakura shuffled forward. A quick glance told Sakura that her mom was not visibly upset and Sakura felt something within her relax a fraction. If her mom wasn't bothered, then that meant nothing bad was going to happen. Maybe Tenjouma's training wouldn't be so bad after all, or maybe it wasn't much different than some extra Academy training. Ino had mentioned doing secret clan jutsu with her dad before and she had never seemed bothered by it.

"The last two elders of the Senju have set aside some time today to meet you and oversee your first training session," Tenjouma told her. "Afterwards we will work out a schedule going forward."

Sakura nodded wordlessly. She didn't know what she should say in response. She didn't want to thank him, after all. While it would be nice for Sakura to have higher physical scores, she did just fine academically and she didn't want Tenjouma to think she _liked_ him or the Senju clan. She wasn't even sure if she liked Tatema. He was probably just trying to soften her up to Tenjouma anyway.

Mebuki stepped closer to Sakura and smoothed down Sakura's hair. "I'll be going with you today too. I would like to learn a little bit more about what you're learning to become a good shinobi," she said.

Sakura shifted back and forth. She wasn't sure if she wanted her mom to come, only to see that Sakura had no idea how to use the Mokuton, or, indeed, was not very physically gifted. Sakura could only hope that her physical ability would catch up with her mind in time.

The trio set out into Hanarakuen, the sun filtering through tree branches to cast a warm golden gleam over the neighborhood. They didn't have to walk very far. The neighborhood, being a shinobi neighborhood, had many training fields and dojos. A few of them, Sakura knew, were still privately owned by the Senju for their use only. Most if not all clans had some kind of private training area in order to practice their secret jutsu or kekkei genkai. Even in the village where they were all allies for generations now, no one liked to share their jutsu or its potential weaknesses. In fact, Ino told Sakura that Yamanaka clan members had to learn how to execute their jutsu without handseals, because there was a doujutsu that would otherwise be able to _copy_ them. Sakura thought she might like that doujutsu.

The place that Tenjouma led them to was a large dojo with an attached training field. The sign out front indicated that it was one of the private, Senju training areas. It was only to be expected. After all, Sakura couldn't imagine Tenjouma wanting others to see just how much of a Senju she really wasn't.

They stepped inside the dojo and Sakura thankfully remembered to bow respectfully. As she slipped her shoes off in the entry way, she took note of the three figures waiting for them. The first Sakura recognized as Kawaki, who didn't look at all like she expected to be training. The other two were a pair of old men that Sakura didn't know at all. The other two elders of the Senju then. There was no one else in the training hall, which she was glad for. Less people to know about her coming humiliation.

"So you're Sakura-chan?" The more solid of the two old men smiled and bent down slightly as he spoke to her. Sakura nodded, her shyness momentarily taking hold. How bad would it look if she grabbed her mom's hand, she wondered.

The other man tilted his head. "Are you sure you haven't made a mistake, Tenjouma? She doesn't look a thing like Hashirama. Doesn't much act like him either."

"If there was a mistake made, then Tenjouma-san went through an awful lot of trouble for nothing." Mebuki's tone then was just like the one when she was warning Sakura against staying up past her bed time or some other such household rule.

"There was no mistake," Tenjouma said sharply. He glanced at Mebuki briefly before continuing. "I saw her use the Mokuton myself. I've also been researching these past few weeks to find the…indiscretion that led to the new branch in the clan."

"A discussion for another time," Kawaki said. "For now, let us take stock of Sakura's ability."

Mebuki frowned thoughtfully. "Yes, but one that I'd like to know more about, as soon as Tenjouma-san has finished drawing his conclusions."

Tenjouma nodded at her in acquiescence. "Of course. But first, Sakura, these are the other two elders of our clan, Kabema and my brother-in-law, Enchuuma."

Enchuuma was the one who had first greeted her. He had a weather beaten face that only served to make him look kind instead of fierce, like Tenjouma's craggy appearance. He was also tall and broad, his back unbent. In comparison, Kabema had a smooth face with thin skin, as if he might wear away into nothing, and he gave the impression of being frail, like an elderly civilian. Yet there was enough substance to him to be cutting, as his gaze cut her now, unsatisfied before she even had a chance to prove herself.

Sakura glanced from Kawaki to Enchuuma. They didn't hardly look a thing alike. She squinted her eyes a tiny bit. Except maybe around the forehead and eyes? She certainly didn't have his broad build, though her shoulders were notably wider than her hips. At the same time Sakura wondered what poor woman had married Kabema. He really didn't seem to have a family disposition.

Mebuki nudged Sakura when she had been silent for a second too long. With the reminder to use her manners, Sakura stepped out from behind her mom.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Haruno Sakura," she said. She bobbed in a short bow and when she straightened, she fidgeted with her hair. Enchuuma nodded at her slightly but Kabema did not acknowledge her besides keeping his stare levelled at her.

"Well then, I should like to see Sakura's Mokuton for myself, especially after all your preening these last few weeks," Kawaki said to Tenjouma.

Tenjouma scowled. "I did not _preen_ ," he grumbled.

"Like a peacock."

He ignored Kawaki's addition. "Sakura, if you would demonstrate your ability with the Mokuton."

Sakura's eyes flitted from adult to adult. They all looked at her expectantly, even her mother. Sakura supposed that made some sense. To Mebuki, jutsu and the application of chakra might as well be magic. But Sakura was still just an Academy student, just learning how to form the twelve hand seals for the first time. She wrung her hands nervously. She didn't actually _know_ any jutsu.

"I don't know how," she mumbled to the ground.

There was silence for a few moments as they absorbed her statement. They were probably thinking about how mistaken they were. Maybe, a distant part of Sakura thought, they'd call the whole thing off and kick her out of the Senju clan, and then her and her family could live in their own little house again.

"Well," started Enchuuma, "how did you do it before?"

Sakura shrugged and beside her Mebuki sighed.

"Be polite and use your words, Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded and swallowed to unstick her throat. "I…I just wanted Ami to stop being mean to Ino-chan, just because Ino-chan is my friend." There hadn't been any thought. Only a deep surge of anger and frustration and then suddenly branches had been growing beneath her hands from the koto.

"If threatening the people she cares about is all it takes, her mother is right here. It should be easy enough to encourage a similar response," Kabema said. Sakura blinked. Did he mean…?

"I would think it would be bad to create an association between using her bloodline ability and her friends and family being hurt. Don't you think so, Kabema-san?" Mebuki's voice was sweet but her expression was sharp enough to cut glass.

"That won't be necessary, Kabema. If you may recall, it is inappropriate to threaten civilians and fellow clan members with bodily harm. Do refrain from doing so in the future," Tenjouma said dryly.

Kabema shrugged in response. He was clearly unbothered by Tenjouma's scolding, though in Sakura's opinion it wasn't much of a lecture. She'd gotten worse for trying to sneak extra dessert.

Enchuuma coughed. "Sakura-chan, you said when you first used the Mokuton that you had your hands on a koto, yes?"

Sakura nodded, happy to get a question she could answer. "Yes, sir."

"Hm." He nodded thoughtfully. "I wonder if it was not the emotional response that allowed her to use the Mokuton but having a medium in her hands."

"Nonsense. Moments of high emotion and stress are known to influence chakra flow, especially in children or adults with poor control. It makes sense that's how she awoke the Mokuton. Besides, Hashirama-sama never needed such a medium." Kawaki said.

"That assumes that the Mokuton needs to be awoken in a similar manner to the Sharingan, and that she doesn't have constant access to it the way all Hyuuga are born able to use the Byakugan, provided they know how. And we don't know if as a child Hashirama-sama needed to use pre-existing wood before he advanced to producing his own," pointed out Tenjouma.

Kabema huffed at his kin. "Then hand the girl a stick and have her push chakra into it until she figures out the Mokuton. Surely it can't be that difficult if she's already done it by accident once before."

"Are you sure you're a ninjutsu specialist?" Enchuuma glanced at Kabema, but the smile tugging at his mouth belied his mocking words.

Tenjouma seemed to think that Kabema's idea was a good one regardless. He glanced around the training field until his eyes found a stray stick. Once he found a suitable one he picked it up only to walk over and press it into her hands. It was reasonably sturdy, maybe two inches in diameter, and around two feet long.

Sakura stared at it in her hands. Then she looked up into Tenjouma's stern face.

"I…I still don't know how to use the Mokuton though." Embarrassed, she looked back down at the stick in her hands. It was completely inert and nothing about it suggested to Sakura that it could be used in a jutsu of any sort. She turned it in her hands. There was no hum of power or mystical sense that she felt from it, the way the main characters in her favorite fantasy novels often described. It was just a stick.

"Push your chakra into it, as Kabema said," Tenjouma instructed her.

She glanced at Tenjouma again. "I don't know how to do that either."

His expression didn't change but she got the feeling he was becoming fed up with her. As much as she didn't like him, Sakura couldn't blame him. She was getting upset with her own inability being brought to light.

"You've begun doing the leaf exercise at the Academy, yes?"

Sakura brightened. This was something she knew, and not only that, something she was good at. Iruka-sensei had even said that she was among the best in the class at it.

"Yes, I can do the leaf exercise," Sakura said. "I can keep five leaves on my forehead for almost an hour," she added. Ami had said it was the only use out of her big forehead she was ever going to get. But the only one who could manage anything similar was Hinata, and she couldn't manage five leaves, only four. Sakura was trying to make it to a whole hour with five leaves before starting over with six.

Tenjouma looked faintly surprised. "Ah, yes, you've good chakra control then." His voice took on a faint lecturing tone, the same as Iruka-sensei's when he spoke to the class. "This is the same concept. Instead of trying to hold a leaf to your forehead, you will simply redirect your chakra down to your hands until it reaches the stick. With any luck the interaction of wood with your chakra will be enough to activate the Mokuton." He didn't say what would happen if it still didn't work.

But, Sakura thought, that didn't seem so difficult. She didn't know it was the same thing as the leaf exercise. That made it much simpler.

She pulled on the little threads of chakra in her belly, just like she did in class. It was easy work for Sakura to wind it down her arms and into her hands, as opposed to bringing them up to her face and forehead. And as she did so, it made contact with the stick she held. Sakura threaded more chakra into the stick. She had reached rather deep inside herself when she had been angry at Ami, after all. And then suddenly a sprout blossomed along the piece of wood in her hands.

There was a sharp intake of breath from someone and suddenly Sakura could feel the presence of all the adults hovering over her. Feeling encouraged by their response, she increased the chakra flow to the stick. More green sprouts blossomed, and the larger ones began to harden and develop into wood.

"It really is the Mokuton," Kawaki breathed. "After all these years…I never thought I'd see it again."

Mebuki hovered over Sakura's shoulder. "I know that it's a secret jutsu of Shodai-sama's, but I'm not sure what makes it special from other jutsu." She leaned in close and Sakura obligingly grew more sprouts. The stick looked more like a small tree without roots. Woody vines twined over her hands and were peppered with leaves and still branches spread from the original stick. Curious as to how large and how quickly she could make it grow, Sakura shoved more chakra in at the highest rate yet.

Branches exploded into existence in her hands and Sakura dropped them with a shriek. Even without her touch they continued to grow, the largest thicker than her legs and obscuring her vision. She stumbled away and fell on her rear as she tried to escape the out of control plant. And yet as soon as her hand made contact with the ground more small trees sprouted and stretched in all directions.

Sakura yanked her hand from the ground in horror and stared at her palms. How did she make it stop? She looked up to try to find Tenjouma to get more help, but the trees were growing quickly enough that it blocked her vision. An itching sensation in her arm drew her gaze down once more and she screamed when she realized a sprout was growing from her arm.

"Mama!"

She grabbed at it frantically and pulled with all her might but it remained stubbornly attached to her, and in fact seemed to be growing larger. And then on her left arm a full branch, bark and all, burst from her skin. Faintly Sakura noted that it did not hurt in the slightest but she was more distracted by the itching spreading from her arms to her shoulders and back. She heard a ripping sound and turned her head to see branches extending from her back, making her resemble a porcupine. Another scream ripped from her mouth.

"Stop stop stop stop!" she shrieked. She ripped and clawed at the branches on her arms but that only seemed to make them grow more. Nothing she did had any affect. The bark was too tough and all she was doing was tearing her own skin.

Above her head there was a horrendous crack. The trees that now surrounded Sakura broke under an immense force and a hand grasped her upper arm and pulled her out from the tangle of branches. She flailed under their grip, catching a glimpse of Tenjouma's face before she began to wrestle with the branches coming from her body that had twined around the trees growing from the ground.

"Easy now, calm down." Tenjouma shook Sakura slightly. Branches continued to creep forward out of her back, though no longer at the explosive rate as before.

"Make it stop, make it stop," Sakura chanted. She hadn't known the trees would come out of her body. It had never said that about the Shodai's Mokuton in the books, only that he could grow forests.

She looked around the training field with teary eyes. Kawaki and Kabema had both jumped backward, and Mebuki had been elbowed behind Kawaki, though she still looked around the older woman's shoulder to watch things unfold. Enchuuma was methodically snapping the young trees with bare handed punches in order to help untangle Sakura.

"These trees," he grunted as he felled another one, "are quite tough indeed. I imagine when Sakura-chan is older and has better control they'll be quite formidable. But I can't continue to break these ones; I'm not sure if the branches attached to Sakura-chan will hurt her if they're destroyed. Can you cancel the jutsu at all?" He directed the last bit to her.

She repeated a now very familiar refrain. "I don't know how!"

Tenjouma was still as unyieldingly composed as a mountain before a rain shower. If Sakura didn't know better she might believe that he witnessed trees growing from people on a regular basis.

"You must be calm," his voice was firm and Sakura took a small comfort in how confident he was. "Pull your chakra back from your limbs, just like how you pushed it into your hands."

She took a deep shuddering breath. A moment later she inhaled again. On the third breath she was finally able to feel and direct the flow of her chakra once more. As it withdrew, the trees stopped growing from her body altogether, though the branches that were already present remained. Sakura fought to keep her calm when the thought occurred to her that she might just be stuck with trees pointing out of her body everywhere.

"Sakura-chan!" Mebuki tried to rush forward to her, only for Kawaki to catch her by the elbow.

"Stay back," she said. "We don't know how stable her control is over the jutsu. The Mokuton is deadly; if she loses her control, she could kill you on accident." Blood drained from Mebuki's face at Kawaki's blunt words.

Sakura looked up at Tenjouma with blurry vision. "How do I make them go away?" she hiccupped. A part of Sakura was embarrassed by what felt like might be an overreaction. Another part of her was still horrified at the way the flesh of her arms melded with the tree branches and the skin gradually became bark.

Tenjouma released the firm grip he had on her upper arm and Sakura sagged a bit without his support. The weight of the branches on her back pulled on her in an odd way that she wasn't sure if she liked. She felt more ungainly and awkward than she ever had in her entire life.

"It's likely the jutsu needs active chakra control to grow the trees, and if the flow is normal and stable, they quit growing. Create a negative flow of chakra from yourself to reverse the jutsu," Kabema ordered. Sakura's lip wobbled traitorously.

"What?"

Tenjouma sighed. "He means to continue pulling chakra towards your core. All you've done is stop pushing chakra out. Now you need to start pulling it in." He paused, and then after a moment of consideration he added, "And stop pulling your chakra in once the trees have disappeared."

Sakura did as she was told. The reverse sensation of pulling her chakra inward was strange for only a moment, and her chakra network barely protested as chakra changed direction inside her. As she pulled, the branches shuddered a bit, and then they began to shrink in size. Elated, Sakura was about to pull even harder to speed up the process when she remembered that the whole mess started because she had become too eager and pushed too much chakra out. Who knew what would happen if she pulled too much chakra inside?

Gradually the branches disappeared entirely and the only sign of their existence was Sakura's now tattered clothing. With her panic now gone, Sakura could see that she had only gotten rid of the trees attached to herself. The rest she had grown still existed, many of them broken in some fashion by Enchuuma's fists. Large splinters and pieces of bark littered the ground across the once pristine training field. Sakura felt bad for whoever was going to have to clean it up.

Suddenly Sakura was scooped up into her mother's arms. She buried her face into Mebuki's clothes.

"Are you all right sweetheart?" Mebuki rubbed her hands up and down Sakura's back. She nodded mutely. Now that she was calm and the trees were gone, it didn't feel so bad. In fact, it was a little bit cool. She could _grow trees._

"It's excellent that she has no need for hand seals to use the Mokuton. It's a sign that it's very potent in her," Kabema commented. "How should we check her physical ability? This little demonstration is enough to tell me that she will be a fine ninjutsu user, with that chakra control."

Tenjouma frowned at Sakura. "I don't think we should proceed with anymore evaluation today," he decided.

Kabema bristled. "After getting her and all of us out here? We need to start toughening her up Tenjouma."

"Oh, honestly Kabema, she's six and the graduation age for peace time is _twelve_ -" Enchuuma started.

"And yet the Uchiha heir became genin at the age she is now, and has already made chuunin. If rumors are to be believed, he may have even been considered for ANBU," Kabema interrupted.

"You both make excellent points," Kawaki said. "But moderation is key. And there are more important things to consider than just showing up the Uchiha clan." She looked pointedly at Kabema.

"Indeed. She'll be no good in training as exhausted and unsettled as she is at the moment. We can continue another day." When Kabema looked like he was about to speak again, Tenjouma continued. "And if you are unable to meet with her, while I am no ninjutsu specialist, I am more than capable of evaluating and training her myself. It'd be for the best anyway."

Kabema harrumphed but did not contest Tenjouma's decision.

"If that's all then, I'll be taking my daughter home for some rest. You can contact me again when you want to have another little…session," Mebuki said shortly. She grasped Sakura's hand and tugged her gently. She needed no encouragement. They left together without saying goodbye, and Sakura looked forward to having the rest of the weekend to herself, where hopefully she would manage to not turn herself into a tree.

Mebuki didn't bring up the disaster of a training session to Sakura, except only to say that Tenjouma had informed her that in the future, Enchuuma would be responsible for her training in taijutsu and Tenjouma responsible for everything else. Sakura was not so secretly glad that she was able to avoid spending time with the irritable Kabema. She thought he might be more of a jerk than even Tenjouma. At least Tenjouma had never suggested actually hurting her parents.

Still, when Sakura was told to be ready for Tenjouma the Saturday morning of the following week, she did not expect to have no training at all.

She followed along just behind Tenjouma after he picked her up from her house. Neither Mebuki nor Kizashi had been able to accompany Sakura. Without them there as a buffer, Sakura was unable to speak to Tenjouma and he was apparently unwilling to say anything to her. Sakura scowled at the ground. For being so important to him and the clan, he sure didn't act like she was.

"Head up, girl. You are a Senju now, and our heir to boot. Act like it," Tenjouma said, breaking her train of thought. Startled, Sakura did as she was bid.

He still hadn't looked down at her, but was instead staring straight ahead as he progressed through the village. How did he even know that she wasn't looking up? Sakura pursed her lips at him but refrained from sticking her tongue out. He'd probably somehow know about that too.

"This is its own sort of training," Tenjouma spoke again. "Normally my son handles all these errands. It is not strictly necessary for it to be handled by the head of a clan, though it is preferred. But you need to learn about looking after clan affairs and the inner workings of the village, so I may as well."

Sakura swallowed slightly. "W-what are we doing today?" She inwardly groaned at the squeak in her voice. Tenjouma finally spared her a glance.

"We are dropping off census information to the Hokage. It is quite fortuitous that your parents and yourself joined the Senju before we had already submitted the forms. It was a simple matter of filling out the paperwork to add your numbers to our clan. Had it been after the census had been completed, the process would've been much more difficult," Tenjouma answered.

"Oh."

A spiteful part of Sakura wished that they had been made to join after the census information had been completed and sent in. But she couldn't dwell on that too long, because it took a surprising amount of effort not to let her head drop again as her nerves returned.

Suddenly a thought occurred to Sakura and she looked up at Tenjouma's face. She wondered how he would take the question now growing in her mind. She bit her lip.

"What happened to the old clan heir? Can't they do it anymore?"

She wondered how they must be feeling, to have their position taken by a six year old. And she wasn't even that good at anything besides memorizing things out of textbooks.

"Do you mean my son, Chikama? Or the previous, legitimate heir, Tsunade?"

Sakura's eyes widened. "Tsunade? Like, one of the heroes of the Second War, Tsunade?" She had almost forgotten entirely that Tsunade, besides being one of the Legendary Sannin, was also the Shodai's granddaughter. She was also one of the earliest examples of infamous kunoichi.

A frown pulled at Tenjouma's lips. "Yes, that Tsunade. She was the heir to the Senju clan, and just when she was supposed to officially become the clan head after the Second War, as her grandfather before her, she disappeared without a trace. Every attempt we made to bring her back was met with utter failure. A skilled shinobi indeed, gone to waste."

Well, Sakura thought snidely to herself, maybe if you weren't all such jerks Tsunade wouldn't have left.

"Why did she leave?"

Tenjouma heaved a great sigh. "A long story for another day. Suffice to say, she demolished swathes of Hanarakuen that had to be repaired, a long process with no Mokuton, and as she left she said the day she came back would be the day she came to see the village turned to rubble herself, and that the clan could figure out how to lead itself in her absence."

Sakura went a bit starry eyed at the thought. The idea of leaving behind the Senju was a tempting one. No more Tatema walking her to school, as if she were a toddler. No more Tenjouma and his rude comments. None of the elders at all, really, and none of the Mokuton nonsense. Tsunade, Sakura thought, was her own new hero.

"She is a traitor to the clan and to this village," Tenjouma finished. "After she left, I became the acting clan head, with my son as my heir. Some still hold hope that Tsunade may return, and thus I have not been declared the official clan head. But with you, there is little reason contest your claim to the position and it is better to have a leader from Hashirama-sama's line, for better legitimacy."

By this time they reached the Hokage Tower. No one stopped them as they walked in, though Sakura spotted a few odd looks as people registered her presence shuffling behind Tenjouma. Sakura swallowed again and valiantly tried to ignore their stares. Sakura swallowed again and valiantly tried to ignore their stares.

Tenjouma seemed to have no issue at all ignoring people. In fact, unless it was her imagination, Sakura thought he might have started walking slower as he entered the Tower. Her brow furrowed. But what would be the point? Was he tired?

As they wound through the halls of the building, the stares began to seem boring. They almost all went through the same pattern. First there was the reflexive glance at Tenjouma, and then something about Sakura would catch their eye. Her hair, probably. And then the inevitable realization, and the eyes would glance from Tenjouma again back to Sakura, their gazes considering and thoughtful. It was almost funny once Sakura spotted the pattern. Instead she was just slowly growing annoyed.

At last they made it to the Hokage's office. A quick knock at the door followed by the necessary greetings and Tenjouma made his way inside.

"Tenjouma-dono, sit down, sit down. And you too, Sakura-kun." The Hokage waved absentmindedly at them while he looked through some documents on his desk.

"It's a good thing you came, Tenjouma-dono. I was about to send a summons regarding some inter-clan issues that need to be addressed. But first, what's brought you here?"

Tenjouma began to speak and Sakura tuned the old men out. It wasn't like either of them actually needed her. What was the point of her being here? She stared out the window wistfully, looking at the visible lower jaws of the Hokage past.

"-have you been adjusting, Sakura-kun?" The Hokage's voice filtered in through her thoughts. Sakura shook herself. Tenjouma was giving her a hard stare in reproach, but thankfully the Hokage did not seem offended.

"F-fine, Hokage-sama, thank you for asking," she said.

"Good, good," he said. He puffed on his pipe a few times before speaking again. "No matter the circumstances, Hashirama-sama would be pleased to know his Mokuton lived on, I think. It was his dream to create a village of lasting peace, where children could grow up and play without fear. He put his Mokuton to that purpose. And now you will follow in his footsteps too."

The Hokage's words were kind, and well meant, Sakura thought, but were too much. Sakura wasn't anything like Shodai-sama at all. Still, Sakura bowed her head in response.

"I will try my best, Hokage-sama."

"Things will turn out all right for you, Sakura-kun. And you will grow to be a fine shinobi, I'm sure," he said. Sakura bowed again. She didn't know what to say to his certainty.

"What was this other business you had, Hokage-sama?" Tenjouma asked. The Hokage clucked his tongue as he was reminded of the reason he wanted to see Tenjouma.

"Oh yes, that's right. It's a bit sensitive; perhaps Sakura-kun ought to wait outside?" Despite the nature of his words, Sakura knew it wasn't a request. With a bow once more, she muttered a few words of respect before leaving.

Outside the Hokage's door were a few comfortable looking chairs. Thankful to not have to stand while she waited for Tenjouma, Sakura took a seat once more. She stared all around her at the new hallways that she had barely glimpsed on her way in, but soon they lost their wonder. The walls of the Hokage Tower were just as plain and boring as walls elsewhere.

It was perhaps five minutes later that the soft tapping of a cane reached Sakura's ears and a man slowly made his way around the corner into view. Sakura knew she shouldn't stare, but she couldn't help it. He was wrapped in bandages everywhere, so that only one eye was visible and one hand was free, and he had a cross shaped scar on his chin. He was quite old indeed, probably the same age as the Hokage or Tenjouma. Despite his crippled appearance, he struck Sakura as a quite intimidating figure.

He stared at Sakura for a long moment and she fidgeted under his gaze. Finally she broke eye contact and stared down at the floor, mumbling an apology for staring.

"You're the Mokuton girl, aren't you?"

Sakura nodded wordlessly.

"I see. And have you already started your training?"

Another nod, this time more hesitant. The man frowned at her.

"It's not going well, is it?" Sakura glanced up at him. Should she tell him the truth? She didn't even know who he was and Tenjouma probably wouldn't be happy if she spread clan secrets around. Did it count as a clan secret if it was just about her and her ability with the Mokuton?

"Hmph. No doubt you heard from the Hokage that you will grow to be a great shinobi like Hashirama-sama," he paused when Sakura nodded once more and then continued. "Of course he would say something like that. It is easy for talented men like Sarutobi Hiruzen to say such things. But Hashirama-sama was not called the God of Shinobi for nothing. It is unlikely you will ever match his ability," he told her bluntly.

Tears stung Sakura's eyes. It was something she knew, yes, but it hurt to have it pointed out to her. There had been a tiny part of her that had hoped that one day the name Haruno Sakura would be revered in a manner similar to Senju Hashirama. But that was just a silly day dream.

"Don't cry now, girl. Nidaime-sama did not cry when he was overlooked for his older, more charismatic older brother, after all," the man scolded. "No, during the First War, the Nidaime gave everything he had, including his life, for the safety of this village, regardless of bloodline abilities or loved ones or personal feelings."

Sakura blinked. "How do you know?"

"Because I was there, as one of his students. And girl, for people like us, those with less talent and less skill, we must strive to emulate Nidaime-sama over his brother."

It was true people often spoke more of the Shodai over the Nidaime. Sakura rubbed her tears away. But he had to have been Hokage for a reason, and the man was right, certainly no one ever said anything about the Nidaime crying.

"Why?"

The man looked pleased, though his expression stopped short of a full smile. "Because men like Nidaime-sama had no choice but to give absolutely everything they had for the good of the village. And so must we as well. For the sake of this village and its peace, we must be prepared to sacrifice anything and anyone. And that can be just as useful, if not more, than simply having power."

Before Sakura could say anything, the door opened and Tenjouma emerged from the Hokage's office.

"Ah, Danzou. I've just finished here, the Hokage is free now. You weren't kept waiting too long?" At least the fact that Tenjouma recognized the old man lent proof to his claim he was the Nidaime's student. Or maybe just all old people knew each other. Sakura wouldn't doubt that either.

"No, it was just a moment. I had a chance to speak to your new heir," his one eyed gaze sharpened on Sakura. "Good luck, Senju-kun." He nodded to Tenjouma and then swept into the office.

"That was Shimura Danzou, one of the elders of this village," Tenjouma eyed Sakura. "You didn't say anything silly to him, did you?"

"No," Sakura said, unable to keep the sour note out of her voice.

"Hm. He's a hard to please man, and difficult to understand. But there's no doubt he'd do anything for the village. Well, come along then." Tenjouma set off down the hall way without checking to see if Sakura followed.

She wrinkled her nose at the door Danzou disappeared into. She hadn't even had the chance to tell him she didn't want to be a Senju. With a glare, she ran to catch up to Tenjouma. At least Danzou had given her something to think about. Maybe there was a way to succeed at being a Senju after all.

* * *

So, a couple of things I want to mention, and hopefully I won't forget any of them. As always, many many thanks to jaycrowind, who was instrumental in the formation of this chapter (and this fic and all my fics, really). Secondly, thanks to munchausen33 and her friend for their fantastic artwork, which is now sitting pretty as the cover art for this fic.

Because people are already making fanart for this fic, which I never expected in a million years, and people maybe having some questions, I want to say that my policy for all of my fics with regards to fanart, fanfic, podfic, translations, etc is you all have my permission _as long as you tell me about it and give me a link_. And to clarify - that does NOT mean you can repost my fics anywhere. I have my fics posted in a variety of places, including AO3, tumblr, and imzy. If you don't like ffnet, you can read them there.

Next, yes, I did make an imzy comm for my fics, which will function similarly to my tumblr account - feel free to message me there, watch for the occasional status updates, or just read the fics there, if you want. The name of the community is Fics From the Roadkill Cafe.

Finally, I at last wrote my first smut piece for Naruto, and due to ffnet's stance on smut on their website, I have chosen not to post it here. The edited version is available (the devil and the deep blue sea) but the nsfw version is only available on ao3 and tumblr. If you are of age and are interested in reading it, please check it out there!

Thank you!


	5. Chapter 5

As always, many many thanks to crowind for her editing. All remaining mistakes are my own. Thanks also to elenathehun, stormwind13, Hiruma_Musouka, moor, phoenixyfriend, sariasprincy, and Tozette for their encouragement and ideas. Please enjoy.

* * *

"Again," Tenjouma ordered.

Sakura panted with her hands on her knees. All around her there were trees of varying shapes and sizes, providing a much appreciated shelter from the brutal sun.

"I can't," she said. Her legs trembled at just the thought of growing more trees. She was out of chakra and exhaustion was making her control tenuous.

Tenjouma's expression was unpitying. "You can and you will. Do it again."

Sakura tried to straighten and groaned in the process. Between morning taijutsu training with Enchuuma and now ninjutsu training with Tenjouma, her body felt like one giant bruise.

"Quit your complaining." Tenjouma cuffed her over the head.

Tears pricked at her eyes but she valiantly tried to hold them back. She recalled Danzou's words in the Hokage Tower. The Nidaime didn't cry. Be like the Nidaime. Sakura took a shuddering breath.

"Yes sir," she replied. She readjusted her position and twisted her hands through the necessary hand seals. Her chakra responded sluggishly but once it was pulled through her coils, the Mokuton answered as quickly as it always had and needed little of her own guidance.

 _Mokuton: Jukai Koutan._

More trees burst through the ground and stretched towards the sky. Sakura didn't have the energy to attempt to see how far she could spread her chakra and grow more trees, nor to force her trees to new sizes. Her head throbbed with the effort of keeping her kekkei genkai from sapping more of her chakra so it could continue its growth. Activating the Mokuton was always a trial. The struggle wasn't in encouraging it to grow; it was in controlling the growth and stopping it once started.

Tenjouma paced around the new trees, examining them with a critical eye. Sakura released the jutsu and fought to ignore the pull on her chakra. The Jukai Koutan Jutsu wasn't the same as the Shodai's; they were even written with different characters to reflect the difference in scale. Where Sakura could only grow a three or four trees at a time, the Shodai could create an entire forest. A sea of trees in comparison to a world of trees. Sakura frowned. Not that her version looked much like a sea.

At last, Tenjouma nodded. "Acceptable, for now. We will have to work on improving your stamina and chakra reserves. The larger they are before puberty, the more they will increase afterwards. Now, clear this away."

Sakura withheld her frustrated whine and nodded. The only benefit she could see to all this was that, each time she molded the Mokuton, it became easier and easier to work with. She barely needed signs anymore to activate it, and only needed the Snake Seal to focus herself when actively manipulating the trees.

She formed said seal and sent out the remnants of her chakra to the closest trees. They shuddered as she urged them to shrink back into the ground. Her temples throbbed again and the pain turned the edges of her vision grey. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fingers tighter as she forced the trees to act against their nature. Her back itched tellingly.

The trees were nearly done reversing their growth when Sakura lost control of the Mokuton. The pressure to simply let the bloodline ability loose had become too much. A branch burst from her spine, shortly followed by three more. She staggered under the new draw on her chakra.

"And I see we also need to improve your control over the Mokuton. I will not allow these outbursts," Tenjouma gestured at the branches stretching from her back. "Do they still respond to your emotions?"

Sakura grunted in the affirmative as she worked. Like most unskilled shinobi, her chakra reacted to her emotions. And when her chakra reacted, so too did the Mokuton. Luckily for Sakura, she hadn't had any incidents in public. The worst loss of control she'd had yet, besides attacking Ami, had been when her mom had made her anmitsu for dessert one day. As she'd gone to hug her mom, branches had sprouted from her arms. Since then, controlling her emotions was just an extra layer to suppressing the constant urge to release her hold on the Mokuton and let it grow as it pleased.

Tenjouma frowned. "We can fix that with some genjutsu training as well. Your records from the Academy say that your intelligence scores are high, but both the records and Enchuuma agree that your taijutsu needs considerable work as well. I hope you don't think I'll accept substandard physical ability just because you're capable of memorizing a textbook."

"No, Tenjouma-sama," Sakura muttered. She stopped her efforts for a moment to catch her breath. She was nearly done with the trees she had grown during training, but recalling the branches from her back was just one more thing she had to do.

"Good. You're not hopeless. With time and effort, you will be an excellent heir to the clan."

It didn't feel that way to Sakura. Every training session with Tenjouma resulted in hours' worth of harsh critiques about her abilities. The only thing about her that seemed to please him at all was her chakra control.

Tenjouma waited with her while Sakura struggled to clear away the evidence of the Mokuton, both in the field and on her body. He always did, no matter how long it took her. Afterwards he would escort her back home before disappearing to do whatever it was that old people did. It was the only time Sakura ever came close to liking him, instead of simmering with resentment.

She stumbled when she finally finished her work. The world around her seemed to spin and tilt, and her head ached fiercely. Tenjouma placed a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"See? I told you that you were able to use the jutsu one more time. You must strive to push your limits every day," he said. She nodded wearily in response, unable to make a reply.

Sakura shuffled through the winding streets to her house with Tenjouma at her side. Every day against her will the neighborhood became more familiar. That side street was a short cut to the Academy. That right fork went to a small but fantastic tea shop. Soon enough, it'd feel as normal as her old neighborhood. Sakura scowled at the ground.

"Head up, Sakura."

Sakura straightened her posture at Tenjouma's command. It took more effort than it should've but she felt she could be forgiven, with the way her body complained about every movement she made.

Soon enough they were at her house. Tenjouma left after she bowed and said her goodbyes. She trudged the house without acknowledging her mother's cheery greeting. Instead she climbed the stairs to her bedroom and only the desire to clean up after practice kept her from throwing herself on to her bed.

She still had Academy homework yet to complete before the weekend was through. Then it'd be back to school all day followed by training with either Enchuuma or Tenjouma. At least Enchuuma was nice while he told her that her taijutsu sucked. Tenjouma had no mercy whatsoever. Even the days when she trailed after him while he did "clan business" were full of things for her to memorize by the end of the day so she could repeat it back to him. Sakura hadn't had time to play with Ino in what felt like years. The only time they had together anymore was at school during breaks and lunch.

A bright spot arrived in the form of a new friend when Sakura returned to school. The day started like any other, with Tatema appearing at her house early in the morning to take her to the Academy and disappearing like a shadow the moment she passed through the gates. Upon seeing Ino, Sakura felt a weight lift off her shoulders. She dashed forward to greet her friend and forgot about the aches in her hands from taijutsu practice and the weak-kneed feeling she still had from chakra exhaustion.

Ino dropped her conversation with a girl that looked like she was from the Inuzuka clan when she realized Sakura had arrived. "Sakura-chan! How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?"

"The same as last weekend," Sakura scowled. "A lot of training and clan stuff." She flexed her fists at the memory of training. Tenjouma's warning from the beginning of her Mokuton training echoed in her mind. If she couldn't learn to maintain control over the Mokuton, she'd be a danger to everyone around her, and the Senju would have to train her in isolation until she mastered it to their satisfaction. That alone was enough encouragement to at least make sure Sakura wouldn't lose control in public.

"What kind of training are you working on?" The Inuzuka girl asked. Sakura blinked in surprise. The girl had never spoken to her at all before. In fact, Sakura didn't know if she even knew what her name was.

"Just some ninjutsu and taijutsu," Sakura replied. That was safe to say, right? Tenjouma didn't want anyone to see her Mokuton until it was mastered, and she wasn't supposed to talk about it at all with outsiders, because it was a clan secret. But Sakura didn't think that ninjutsu and taijutsu training was such a big secret; all shinobi had to train in those areas eventually.

A boy appeared at Sakura's elbow, startling her. "Are you any good at them?" he asked bluntly. Sakura's jaw worked up and down for a few seconds. She recognized him as a fellow classmate, Sarutobi Daisuke.

"I mean, you probably need a lot of work," he continued blithely. "You don't seem to score that great on them during the practicals in class."

Sakura flushed. The Inuzuka girl leaned in with interest. "But you've got the Mokuton, right? So, can you use it or not?"

Luckily, Ino interfered before Sakura could make a fool of herself. "Could you two be any more obvious? It hasn't even been thirty seconds and you're asking her about her bloodline limit! Do you think she's stupid? Sakura-chan and I can tell you're only interested in her now because she's a Senju."

Daisuke shrugged. "I was just doing what my dad told me to, I don't really care besides seeing the Mokuton. It's a super cool jutsu, you know?"

"And so what if we only care now? What is she going to do about it?" the Inuzuka planted her hands on her hips. Daisuke leaned away from them as the air became noticeably chillier.

"I'll tell you what I'm going to do about it," Ino bared her teeth. Then, in textbook perfect Academy form, she punched the other girl solidly in the face. The force of it knocked her on her back into the dirt. Ino stood over her prone form. "No one gets to use Sakura-chan for anything. I don't care who they think they are. If you want to get at Sakura-chan, you're going to have to get through me."

Sakura noted in the back of her mind that Daisuke had disappeared towards the main building. Most of her focus was drawn towards Ino. In that moment, with the sunlight glinting off her hair and her fierce expression, Ino was everything she aspired to be. Sakura's fists clenched.

The Inuzuka girl shook herself and then climbed back to her feet. A long growl issued from her throat before she launched herself at Ino. Ino met her part way, and before Sakura could fully take in what was happening, the two of them were wrestling in the dirt. Formal taijutsu was completely abandoned as the Inuzuka sank her abnormally sharp teeth into Ino's arm. Ino in turn grabbed her hair and seemed determined to rip it out of her opponent's scalp.

Sakura danced around them anxiously. Should she help Ino? How could she interfere that wouldn't make Ino look bad? But didn't it make Sakura look bad that Ino had to fight for her? Before Sakura could decide what to do, Mizuki-sensei had appeared and was pulling the two of them apart.

"What is wrong with the two of you?"

Ino pressed her lips together mutinously as she glared at the Inuzuka girl. The girl snarled back at Ino. Neither answered Mizuki-sensei.

"Fine, then. I'll be sending the two of you home, where you won't be able to disrupt classes and you can explain why exactly you got into a pointless brawl," he said. He let go of both of them and beckoned for them to follow him to the office. "Senju, get to class before you're late."

Sakura swallowed. Now was her chance to start sticking up for herself, instead of relying on Ino to do it for her. "It's Haruno, sir," Sakura said in a squeaky voice.

Mizuki-sensei turned. "What was that?" His brow was arched in curiosity and his expression indicated no irritation, giving Sakura the courage to repeat herself.

She coughed to clear her throat. "My family name. It's still Haruno. I…it hasn't been changed." She didn't know what would happen if she denied the Senju clan in its entirety, but she could keep her name. Tatema told her so.

"I see. Well, Haruno, my point still stands. You need to hurry along or you'll be in trouble with these two here," Mizuki-sensei's voice soured as he glanced at Ino and the other girl. Sakura bobbed into a bow. She waved at Ino before heading towards her classroom.

Sakura settled into her usual seat with several minutes to spare. She pulled out her notes and homework, and when Daisuke tried to catch her attention, pretended to study them. It wasn't like he knew she had spent her time outside of training making sure her homework was up to its usual standard and she was prepared to answer any question Iruka-sensei had for her. She wished Ino was beside her to make the day less dull, but Sakura knew she also had to prove she wasn't reliant on her.

The morning and lunch went well. The lecture was comforting in its normalcy, punctuated by Iruka-sensei having to stop to scold misbehaving students. At lunch, Shikamaru had dropped into Ino's seat and put his head down for a nap. Before he could doze off, Sakura asked him what he was doing there, instead of sitting with Chouji.

"I just want to sleep today, and you're not being troublesome," Shikamaru answered. Mere seconds later and he started to snore. Sakura felt her face pull into a scowl. She wasn't ever troublesome! For a moment she thought about making as much racket as possible to chase Shikamaru off, but as long as he was next to her, that meant no one else could sit next to her either. And really, there were worse people to sit next to than Nara Shikamaru.

It was the afternoon that took a sudden turn for Sakura. When Daikoku-sensei came in to teach the afternoon session, he announced there was going to be a surprise taijutsu practice session, to make sure they had been practicing their forms at home. Sakura glanced down at her still bruised knuckles. She had been doing lots of practice with Enchuuma, but despite his encouragement, Sakura didn't know if it had actually made any difference.

The class shuffled in a single file to the outdoor training area. Excited whispers made their way to Sakura's ears. A taijutsu practical was different than chakra control exercises. Often, the children abandoned formal stances for victory-at-all-costs strategies. Thus, taijutsu practice was a prime spot to establish hierarchies.

Daikoku-sensei had a box with everyone's name inside in order to create blind matches. He announced the participants at the conclusion of each match, forcing Sakura to wait with her heart in her throat for whom she would be paired with. Would it be Sasuke or Kiba, who had some of the highest taijutsu scores in class? Or would she be lucky enough to draw with Shino or Shikamaru, who had much lower scores?

"Hyuuga Hinata vs…" Daikoku-sensei swished his hand around inside the box. "Haruno Sakura!"

Sakura swallowed. She had forgotten about Hinata. It was sort of easy to, she thought guiltily, because of how quiet she was. But Hinata also had some of the highest taijutsu scores in class. Sakura guessed it was from training for her clan style, the Gentle Fist, though Sakura didn't know what exactly it was comprised of.

Sakura made her way to the makeshift arena, Hinata following suit. She fought the urge to hunch over and instead pulled her shoulders back and head up, as Tenjouma so often had to remind her. When she stood across from Hinata, they both made the Seal of Confrontation.

"Please be kind to me, Sakura-chan," Hinata said formally. Sakura decided against verbally replying, lest her voice croak, and just nodded.

"And, start!" Daikoku-sensei called.

Both of them stood there. Neither of them had it in them to make the first move to start the fight. A pleasant summer breeze blew by while they stared at each other.

"Um," Hinata said.

Sakura raised her fists. As she suspected, Hinata didn't even bother using an Academy form and instead shifted to her clan's style with the tell tale open palm.

"Girls, you have to do this some time," Daikoku-sensei said.

Sakura nodded. "Right. I'll just, um." This was her chance to show that she was strong enough to not be bullied. She just didn't have the heart to hurt Hinata, or was even sure she was good enough to face her.

She threw the first punch. Hinata moved with Sakura's motions as if she were water, stepping back with Sakura's momentum before striking at her open side with her palm. Sakura barely managed to twist out of the way. Her eyes narrowed when she realized Hinata didn't follow through with her strike. That was her weakness. If Sakura could take advantage of that, she might win.

That had been Sakura's hope. But Hinata, despite her unwillingness to push Sakura hard, was still better at taijutsu than Sakura. No matter how fast Sakura threw her punches or where she tried to hit Hinata, Hinata had a counter for her. As frustration mounted, an itch began underneath Sakura's skin.

Sakura scrambled backwards to give herself time to bring the Mokuton under control. Hinata pressed her advantage and lashed at Sakura repeatedly. Sakura dodged them by the skin of her teeth, having given up on trying to hit Hinata and instead solely focusing on dodging and preventing the Mokuton from bursting through her skin.

Pain lanced through Sakura's head from the tension. She stumbled. Hinata's palm struck her shoulder hard and it was only sheer stubbornness that kept Sakura on her feet. Her blood prickled beneath her skin. In an effort to keep from losing control, Sakura swung her arm wildly. Only by luck did her knuckles collide with Hinata's chest. Hinata stumbled backward in shock, her form broken by the force of Sakura's hit.

Feeling emboldened, Sakura pressed forward. Her momentary success lent her the will to suppress the Mokuton. Hinata was hesitating and wide open. She landed another hit before Hinata began to react once more.

In another six or seven strikes, the match was over. Sakura huffed on the ground before Hinata. A few weeks of extra taijutsu training was no match for Hinata, who had likely been training since she could walk.

Hinata peered down at Sakura. "Thank you for the match, Sakura-chan." She paused, then added, "Y-you've improved since the l-last time we had taijutsu p-practice."

"Thank you," Sakura replied as she got to her feet. Her face burned with humiliation nonetheless and the Mokuton was a creeping thing in her veins.

Hinata held out her fingers and Sakura wrapped hers around them in kind, for the Seal of Reconciliation.

"Excellent work, girls. It's time for our next match," Daikoku-sensei prompted. At his urging, they both left the fighting area and stood with the rest of their classmates by the fence.

Sakura stood by herself, her nails biting into her fists. She knew her taijutsu was bad. She knew a few weeks worth of training with Enchuuma wouldn't make her any good. It didn't make losing sting any less.

"Sakura-chan?" Hinata said.

Sakura startled and looked up. Hinata pressed her fingertips together uncertainly and failed to meet Sakura's stare.

"You must have been training hard," Hinata gestured at Sakura's hands. "W-while we were fighting, I saw your hands. D-doesn't your clan heal them?"

Sakura's nose wrinkled as she recalled the memory of her asking Tenjouma that exact question. "Suffering through minor pain builds character. I will only get healing if I am seriously hurt," Sakura parroted. Never mind that the bruises on her knuckles interfered with her taijutsu work. But Tenjouma had laid down the law and the rest of the Senju obeyed. When Sakura had tried to ask Enchuuma and Tatema for treatment, they both had refused as well, citing Tenjouma's rule. Sakura was not to be given any healing while she was in training.

"I-I see," Hinata replied. "My clan often feels the s-same way, but our hands are too important to d-damage, so we use this." She pulled a small jar of balm from inside her baggy coat. In the background, screams and cheers echoed as Naruto fought with Sasuke.

Hinata opened the jar and dabbed her fingers into the balm before reaching for Sakura's hands. She was too stunned to stop Hinata from slathering it over her bruises and cuts. Sakura didn't think she had ever seen Hinata act this bold. Then the healing from the medicinal balm took over. The aches in Sakura's hands disappeared almost instantaneously and the redness was soothed immediately. Some of the older bruises even faded before her eyes.

"It helps to heal not just b-bruises and small cuts, but also treats i-inflammation of the tenketsu," Hinata explained. "It is h-helpful if you use techniques that regularly e-expel chakra from them. This is my mother's own recipe." She blushed and looked down at the admission.

"This is wonderful, Hinata-chan, thank you," said Sakura. "I couldn't have asked for a better opponent." And Sakura knew that to be true. Anyone else in class would've held it over Sakura's head that she had lost, even Ino, who was above all else, very competitive. It was probably only Hinata would think to treat her opponent's injuries after a spar.

Hinata pressed the jar into Sakura's hands. "You can have this one. I can m-make more."

Happiness bloomed in Sakura's chest. She cradled the jar gently in her hands before tucking it away into a pouch. "Thank you so much, Hinata-chan. This will make taijutsu practice a lot easier."

Hinata murmured something unintelligible and looked down again, her fingers returning to their fidgeting.

"Do you want to be friends?" Sakura blurted. Hinata's head rocketed up, her pale eyes wide as she met Sakura's own for the first time during the conversation.

"What?"

"It's just…there's no reason why you can't hang out with me and Ino. Unless you don't want to…" Sakura trailed off. Maybe asking Hinata to be her friend was a mistake. Even though Hinata had always been nice to Sakura, that didn't mean she liked her; Hinata was nice to everyone. At least Sakura would know it wasn't because she was a Senju or had the Mokuton.

"It's okay if you don't want—"

"I'd love to," Hinata interrupted. She clapped her hands over her mouth. "I-I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I just…"

As Hinata's voice drifted away, they both stared at each other until they burst into giggles.

With Hinata's agreement, Sakura felt that the day had become perfect. It didn't matter that she had lost a match in front of her class, or that people still stared at her. Sakura had made a new friend. Not only that, she had made a new friend without Ino's help. Hinata was Sakura's own friend.

Sakura couldn't keep her grin off her face, even as the day ended and Hinata walked away with her own shadow, a teenaged shinobi she had introduced as Hyuuga Tokuma. She waved excitedly at Hinata until she disappeared, uncaring if she looked silly. It was then that Sakura realized that for the first time since Tatema began escorting her he was late.

She peered around the front entrance to the Academy, trying to spot his dark hair, to no avail. She rocked back on her heels. It wasn't like Sakura didn't know how to get home, but to the best of her knowledge, she was supposed to be walked home. Was this a test? Should she wait or get moving on her own?

"Are you waiting for someone?"

Sakura whirled around. Standing there were Sasuke and an older boy who could've only been a relative. He had the beginnings of stress lines and long dark hair pulled back from his face.

"Um, yes, I'm waiting for…" Sakura trailed off thoughtfully. She wasn't even sure how exactly Tatema was related to her. They certainly didn't look a thing alike, so they probably weren't that close. "For my cousin?"

"I see. My name is Uchiha Itachi. We can wait with you, if you'd like," he offered.

"Nii-san!" Sasuke tugged at Itachi's clothes. "What about shuriken practice?"

Before either Sakura or Itachi could reply, Suzume-sensei walked back from where she had waved off a few students. "Is there going to be a problem here?" She looked steadily at Itachi, who remained placid.

"Not at all, sensei. I offered to wait here with Haruno-san for her cousin," Itachi said.

Suzume-sensei turned her gaze to Sakura. "Is this right, Sakura-chan? He's not bothering you?"

"No, Suzume-sensei, I'm fine." Sakura watched Suzume-sensei leave with puzzlement. Had she looked upset by Itachi?

She turned back to Itachi. "Thank you for waiting with me." She didn't really understand why he would want to, especially with Sasuke looking more and more impatient beside him, but she appreciated it all the same.

"Sensei thinks that because you are the heir of the Senju clan and I am the heir of the Uchiha clan, we will fight with each other," Itachi said. Sakura blinked. That was off topic. Not that they really had a topic to begin with, but it was an odd thing to say. But it did explain why Suzume-sensei was so concerned.

Then the other part of his statement clicked. "You're the heir of the Uchiha clan?" Sakura looked Itachi up and down with renewed interest before flicking her eyes over Sasuke. She knew Sasuke was from an important family in his clan, but she hadn't realized he was the second born son of the main family.

"Yes, I am the heir," Itachi replied. He looked like he might say more, but Sasuke interrupted.

"And he's a chuunin already! Nii-san is the going to be the strongest shinobi in the village." Sasuke's expression challenged Sakura to contradict him.

Sakura took in Itachi's pale face with its stress lines. He looked like he was only a few years older than her. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be both an heir and a chuunin already, and yet Sakura knew that she was staring at what she would someday become. "Your clan must make you train very hard, since you're a chuunin so young."

Sasuke seemed to miss part of her statement and beamed with pride. "Nii-san trains everyday with Otou-san."

"You're correct, Haruno-san. Training is very difficult." Itachi's dark, serious eyes however, told Sakura that he had completely understood her.

Sakura swallowed. "Does it ever go away? Or at least get easier?"

Itachi shook his head slowly. "There is no escaping the clan."

"Sakura-chan!"

Sakura tore her eyes from Itachi to find Tatema approaching. For the first time Sakura saw a frown pull at his mouth and his dark eyes were hard as he considered Itachi.

"I'm sorry for keeping you waiting, Sakura-chan," he said without looking at her.

"It's fine, Itachi-san was just waiting with me and we talked a little bit. He was very nice." Sakura tried to stress the last bit. If Suzume-sensei thought that Itachi and Sakura might argue, who knew what Tatema thought they were doing.

Tatema's face relaxed but he still didn't return to his usual pleasant smile. "I see. Thank you for your hospitality, Uchiha-san."

"It was no trouble, Senju-san. Have a good day, Haruno-san." Itachi bowed before urging Sasuke away, who looked confused and a little disgruntled. Tatema stared hard at Itachi's back before he too pulled Sakura away.

"I'm sorry for being late," he apologized again. "I was called to the mission desk. I leave tomorrow morning, once a team has been fully assembled. I'm going to introduce you to my older brother; he'll take you to and from school while I'm gone."

Curiosity filled Sakura. "Didn't you say once that he was married?" she said as she followed after Tatema.

"Yes, that's right. His name is Retsuma, and his wife is Sakumi," Tatema answered.

Tatema led Sakura down a new street through Hanarakuen. Retsuma and Sakumi's home was farther from the heart of the district and instead closer to the training fields on the outskirts. On the way there, Sakura learned from Tatema that they needed the space for Retsuma's lab, who was a genjutsu and poisons specialist. Sakumi, by contrast, worked in Intelligence, where her role was anything from spy to saboteur and everything in between.

"He inherited Touka-obaasama's talent for genjutsu. He might be even better than Tenjouma-ojiisama," Tatema confided to her.

"Touka-obaasama?" That was a name Sakura hadn't heard before.

"Touka-obaasama was the elder cousin to Hashirama-sama and Tobirama-sama. After their deaths, together with Mito-sama they ran the Senju clan. Tenjouma-ojiisama is her only surviving child," he explained.

Tatema approached a nondescript house and entered with little ceremony. They lined up their sandals neatly in the entry way, and then Sakura followed Tatema further inside. As she did so, she peered around for evidence of the lab, but disappointingly, found nothing. It would've been fascinating to see real work and not the manufactured examples they showed to the Academy students.

In the next room they found a woman sitting at a low table and drinking tea while perusing a few scrolls. She had long chocolate brown hair tied in a low ponytail over her shoulder, and sharp grey eyes. And then her yukata gaped open as she turned to face them and Sakura realized she was actually a he. Sakura blushed.

"Retsu, I've brought Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan, this is Retsuma," Tatema said. Sakura evaluated them again. Tatema had short, shaggy dark brown hair bordering on black and brown eyes, making him seem like Retsuma's opposite. But they both had long, angular faces with a sharp jaw and broad shoulders with tanned skin.

"Hello Sakura-chan. It's good to finally meet you," Retsuma smiled at her. A strange, light feeling came over Sakura. She grinned at Retsuma.

"It's nice to meet you too, Retsu-niisan. I can call you that, right?" Sakura dropped to the table across from Retsuma. "You're so pretty. The prettiest person I have ever met. Prettier than Ino-chan."

Retsuma covered a smile with his hand. "Am I? I'm flattered; thank you, Sakura-chan."

"Retsu, cut that out." Tatema placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder and with a sudden jolt, the dreamy feeling she'd been floating in disappeared.

"No need to spoil my fun, Tatema. I was testing her genjutsu aptitude," Retsuma said.

Sakura turned bright pink as she realized what she'd confessed to Retsuma.

"Tenjouma-ojiisama is handling her training, not you," Tatema snapped.

"You're so uptight—it was just a little genjutsu. You failed, by the way," Retsuma informed her.

Sakura hunched over in embarrassment. She didn't even know anything about genjutsu. They hadn't covered that yet at the Academy. How was she supposed to know how to detect one, let alone dispel it?

"She didn't fail anything because there was no test. Don't be late when you pick her up, and if she tells me that you put her under another genjutsu or, worse, tested a poison on her, I'll tell mom."

"Would she even notice?" Retsuma murmured. "But yes, of course, I'll take good care of her. It'd be boring if something happened to her before she ever improved."

Without another word, Tatema picked Sakura up by her arm and pulled her from the room.

"Leaving so soon?"

"Her parents will be wondering where she is," replied Tatema. "Come along, Sakura-chan."

Once again Sakura followed after Tatema obediently, this time out of Retsuma's house and to her own. Tatema seemed annoyed by the visit to his brother's but not nearly as stiff as he was when he saw Itachi.

"Your brother is scary," Sakura said tentatively. "I don't think I like him."

Tatema barked out a laugh, releasing the tension in the air. "Try growing up with him. Normally he doesn't do that sort of thing, at least not without permission. It's bad taste. He's in a mood; the elders have probably been bothering him again."

Sakura wrinkled her nose. Was that all the old people in the clan existed to do? Harass the younger members until they obeyed them? "About what?"

"Retsuma has been married to Sakumi for a few years now, but they still haven't had a child. I would've thought they would relax a little after adopting you into the clan, but it seems like they've only gotten pushier about it. I'm surprised they haven't said anything recently about me not being married," Tatema said. "But that's not for you to worry about. Now you know who Retsuma is, and he'll be there to walk you to and from school while I'm gone."

"Will you be gone long?" Sakura hoped not. She was finally used to Tatema and he was the nicest of the Senju she had met so far, with Enchuuma being a close second.

"Only a few weeks. I'll be back before you know it." They stopped in front of Sakura's house.

She looked down at her sandals before glancing back up at Tatema. "You're not so bad, so come home safe, okay?" Tatema's jaw went slightly slack at her words. Sakura took the opportunity to run inside her house. No need to make it anymore awkward.

As she leaned against her door, she took in a deep breath. She was not looking forward to having to be stuck with Retsuma, especially not if she had to worry about genjutsu or poison all the time. But, Sakura smiled to herself. Not even Retsuma's presence could dull the fact that she was going to meet with not just one friend tomorrow, but two. And with that thought in mind, Sakura headed upstairs to get changed for training, already looking forward to using Hinata's balm on her knuckles.

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